Aphiwe Mgoqi and Noluthando Asanda Dlamini
A non-profit advocacy organisation and south Durban residents marched to City Hall on 3 October to submit a memorandum of their demands over their concerns.
The community of eThekwini Ward 105, which includes Fakazi, Wubwini, Amandlethu and Mfume, and the Right2Know held a protest, demanding better water supply, improved service delivery and the removal of their ward councillor.
The Right2Know KwaZulu-Natal provincial organiser, Yolanda Yalezo, said that the community has been grappling with the water issue since 2016, but no action has been taken to tackle the problem.
She said: “We went to see the water sources where they (the community) drink from and even when we got there, there were a lot of animals there. That’s a very painful thing. We tried getting on hold of the ward councillor, but he couldn’t hear us.
“We went to the Speaker’s Office. I don’t know if they took our grievances seriously. Otherwise, they would’ve helped us the first time. We went to traditional leaders. You know, nothing was working, so the last resort was to protest. South African people don’t love to protest. It’s a thing that we don’t do for fun, but we do it because the state doesn’t hear our grievances.”
One of the protesters, Phili Wela, expressed her frustration of living without water, citing the challenges of drinking contaminated water and sharing it with animals.
“We have a huge problem. It’s not easy going to fetch water at the streams where dogs and cats drink. Sometimes you get there and find dead dogs, but we still have to use that water because we don’t have a choice. The sad part is that some newborn babies use this water and develop skin conditions. They (the municipality) will send only three water trucks that don’t cover the quarter of the community,” she lamented.
Sikhumbuzo Cele, another protester, said there is a need for multiple councillors in Ward 105, because of its size and dynamics.
“Putting aside the laziness of the ward councillor, we are pleading that you rethink Ward 105 being represented by one person. This is one of our greatest grievances.”
Mlulama Ngcobo, from the Speaker’s Office, received the memorandum on behalf of the municipality and promised to get back to the residents.
