Umamah Bakharia

After 3 months without water in parts of oThongathi, eThekwini Municipality said construction to rebuild the oThongathi Water Treatment Plant has begun.

Speaking to Radio Islam, local ward councillor Yogis Govender, says the plant was destroyed in the Durban floods. “The only left intact was the foundation, even some of the pylon, all the major pipelines, that banks had collapsed, the river had widened, the entire into the plant washed away, so it was almost to the ground,” she says.

Adding that, due to the impact of the devastation, the eThekweni region could not act as quickly as they had hoped. oThongathi and Umdloti were among the hardest hit areas.

Residents have been making use of JoJo water tankers to get by. “We even had people waiting for 3 days without water to their doors,” says Govender.

The municipality said the project will cost about R31 million and will be completed by October.