Crime against eThekwini technicians affecting service delivery: Mavundla

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has heard that eThekwini metro is footing huge bills for providing security that accompany technicians when they are on a call out to repair infrastructure.

The city’s senior managers and Deputy Mayor Philani Mavundla have been testifying during the KwaZulu-Natal Inquiry into Access to Water underway in uMhlanga, north of Durban.

Mavundla says, “Our security in Durban at the moment is costing us a lot. Every now and then, we have to deploy a plumber, we must deploy a plumber with a security guard. But we still get robbed under those situations every now and then.”

“We have to send a technician, we must send them with additional security because they get robbed and then end up not doing service delivery. Last night, I was at Illovu where the community was blocking the road complaining about water but what then came up when we engaged? We had our plumbers but they felt they were moving too slow they chased him away,” says Mavundla.

eThekwini Municipality to implement water rotation schedule:

The City’s Water and Sanitation Department continue to attend to overflowing sewer manholes and blocked sewer lines.
The team desilted sand infiltration from nine manholes downstream in ward 16 in Nazareth.#eThekwiniMunicipality pic.twitter.com/Q0JXQ5cekS

— eThekwini Municipality (@eThekwiniM) August 7, 2022