Residents forced to travel long distances as taps run dry
Residents in Pietermaritzburg say they have gone days without water and are forced to travel or pay others to collect it, as civil-society groups warn that failing infrastructure and poor governance are deepening South Africa’s water crisis.
Residents in various parts of the country are facing water shortages, leading them to travel long distances daily to collect water in containers. In Imbali township, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Zamokuhle Khumalo has been using his car to fetch water, while his neighbors resort to pushing heavy wheelbarrows and others pay others to bring water for them.
Khumalo has been experiencing a water crisis for years, with periods of up to two days or even a whole week without water. Despite numerous meetings with the councillor and municipality, no resolution has been reached, as the municipality continues to bill residents for water they do not receive. Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Ngcobo explained that they began curtailment in August 2025 to assist uMngeni-uThukela Water in increasing Midmar dam's volume by June 2026.
However, the residents are still paying water bills, even though there is no water supply. The People's Water Forum (PWF) is also protesting water shortages in Johannesburg, citing poor governance, mismanagement, and maintenance issues as the root cause of the crisis. The organization attributes the worsening situation to the city's failure to pay its service providers, with only around R400 million in small, inconsistent payments received by Johannesburg Water.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
