A Durban man was killed apparently while tampering with an air valve on an eThekwini Municipality main water pipeline. The incident has led to water cuts in parts of Umhlanga, Phoenix and Verulam.

A Durban man is believed to have been "blown apart" by an explosive jet of highly pressurised water, apparently while he was tampering with an air valve on an eThekwini Municipality main water pipeline.

While the exact circumstances of the incident are still under investigation, the SA Police Services have confirmed that an inquest docket was opened "after human body parts, a hand and a leg" were found near a main water pipeline chamber near Riverhorse Valley on 4 April 2024.

Responding to queries from Daily Maverick, SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said: "Security officers had noticed that the water at the depot was flowing in an unusual manner and upon inspection, the body parts were found. It remains unknown at this stage how the body parts got into the pipeline and police investigations are ongoing."

The police statement came after Daily Maverick received information from three separate sources about the discovery of a dismembered body in the immediate vicinity of vandalised municipal pipeline infrastructure in an underground chamber near the eThekwini Heart Hospital in Riverhorse Valley.

The damage to city infrastructure has led to extensive water supply interruptions in thousands of homes in the northern areas of Durban as...