South Africa: DA Calls for Immediate Action Against Five Non-Compliant KZN Municipalities Amid Ethekwini Water Crisis

6 April 2025
Democratic Alliance (Cape Town)
press release By Mzamo Billy MP - DA NCOP Member

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for the immediate public disclosure of the five non-compliant KwaZulu-Natal municipalities that have failed to submit corrective action plans, as well as binding recovery timelines and independent oversight to address the collapse of water infrastructure in areas like eThekwini.

This follows the minister of Water and Sanitaion, Pemmy Majodina's, evasive response to a critcial parliamentary question in the NCOP. While the Minister boasts of summits, workstreams and future plans, the truth is that residents in eThekwini are paying the price today for years of political neglect, mismanagement and institutional collapse.

Communities face dry taps, raw sewage on their streets, and a government more interested in bureaucracy than in basic human dignity.

Of the 14 Water Services Authorities (WSAs) in KZN, five have brazenly failed to submit the required corrective action plans. The Minister's answer? Letters. Not disciplinary action, not budget cuts, not holding mayors or municipal managers personally accountable -- just letters.

This is not accountability. This is complicity.

It is shocking that the Minister could not even name the non-compliant municipalities, nor outline what "further regulatory action" actually means. The people of eThekwini deserve to know which officials are failing them and what the national government is doing to stop the rot.

The DA calls for:

  • Immediate public disclosure of the five non-compliant KZN municipalities.
  • Binding timelines for infrastructure recovery, with clear financial and operational consequences for failures.
  • Independent oversight mechanisms involving civil society and engineers, not just closed-door summits and elite task teams.
  • The Minister's reliance on a yet-to-be-proven turnaround strategy does nothing for the communities who cannot flush their toilets or access clean drinking water.
  • The DA will continue to fight for transparent, people-first governance, and for an end to the culture of no consequences that defines ANC-run municipalities.

Read the original article on DA.

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