Residents of eThekwini's rural Ward 105 say they have been without reliable municipal water since 2020, forcing families to rely on streams and costly water purchases despite repeated promises of infrastructure upgrades, while the municipality blames ageing infrastructure, vandalism and growing demand for the ongoing shortages.

For residents in eThekwini Metro Municipality's Ward 105, every sunrise begins with the same painful routine. Instead of turning on a tap, they pick up buckets and walk long distances to collect water from streams shared with cattle, goats and dogs.

The community says it has not had a reliable supply of municipal water since 2020, with families seemingly waiting endlessly for promises from the municipality to materialise.

Ward 105 is a predominantly rural area on the southern outskirts of eThekwini. Communities live in small pockets of settlements such as Mfume and Odidini that all face high levels of poverty, unemployment and limited access to basic services. Despite falling within the boundaries of a metropolitan municipality, the ward retains a distinctly rural character, with traditional leadership playing an important role in community life.

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Over the past few weeks, Inkundla Newspaper has visited this area a number of times to see and hear the community's struggles first hand. Residents described years of suffering and frustration. They accused the eThekwini Municipality and their ward councillor of neglecting them. In this area, they said, there used to be wide access to piped running water. It was flowing well until a series of projects...