DURBAN - eThekwini is trying to squeeze out the “tanker mafia”, believed to be behind rampant sabotage of water infrastructure.
The so-called mafia is alleged to be creating havoc in several municipalities, purposely stopping water supply in order to secure tenders.
Unplanned outages, flood damage, routine maintenance and vandalism have contributed to dry taps and widespread anger.
To this end, the municipality is closing the taps on outsourcing water delivery via tankers.
READ: Water crisis in SA | Tanker mafia sabotaging infrastructure
eThekwini mayor Sihle Xaba has announced that the city will receive 264 water tankers that will deliver water to residents in times of outages.
"The new tankers mean even if there was a city-wide interruption, each ward would still get at least two tankers," Xaba said.
But residents’ woes are far from over as the newly-announced water turnaround strategy will take years to provide tangible benefits.
- eNCA's Dasen Thathiah reports.