Umgeni Water is in a 20-year contract with uThukela.

According to Umgeni general manager Dan Naidoo, this will ensure the building of quality infrastructure, which will go a long way towards alleviating the water woes faced in the district due to malfunctioning water pumps and burst pipes.

Umgeni’s core function is to supply water in bulk to municipalities, however, officials have promised to help uThukela – one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province – when it comes to refurbishing leaking pipes that supply municipal clients.

Umgeni also urges people to start thinking about the water shortage crisis the whole country is facing and start thinking about the future.

In February this year, the Department of Water and Sanitation told a ministerial interactive session on transformation in Boksburg  that a countrywide water shortage is a decade away unless urgent action is taken.

This includes taking measures to rehabilitate and preserve our rivers and catchment areas, fix and maintain crumbling infrastructure and implement water re-use.