Celani Sikhakhane
Residents of Ladysmith in the uThukela Districts remain without running water three weeks after devastating floods laid waste to much of KwaZulu-Natal.
UThukela District mayor Inkosi Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala revealed that water pumps were badly damaged by the floods which devastated KwaZulu-Natal in April.
This has left many of the city’s clinics, schools and other institutions without ready access to running water.
“Currently, only two pumps are operational. Due to this unfortunate incident the abstraction capacity has been greatly reduced in the water supply system,” Mayor Shabalala told Scrolla.Africa.
“We are now having a construction company on-site working around the clock conducting repairs and removing silt that was deposited by recent floods. They are also fixing pumps and maintaining other technical faults.”
The mayor said that the plant is operational but is not working at full capacity.
As a result, the repairs of the existing infrastructure will have an effect on the supply of water to the communities of Ezakheni, Acaciavale, Steadville, Chesty Place and Aloe Park.
Scrolla.africa has been told that the repairs and fixing of pumps will impact access to water in these communities up until Friday morning if everything works out as planned.
As well as water supplies, many Ladysmith residents have had to go without food and other essential supplies since the floods laid waste to much of the city last month.
In Durban meanwhile, residents are still struggling to get access to basic services.
Relief efforts continue across the province as 435 people have now been confirmed to have died in the floods, with 55 people still missing.
