Durban's northern townships get water repairs from Wednesday, but vandals cost the city up to R160 000 a valve
Mayor Cyril Xaba has ordered eThekwini's water team to speed up replacement of flood-washed mains in Inanda Newtown A, with valve repairs starting in Lindelani and Ntuzuma G on 21 October.
eThekwini Municipality will begin replacing vandalised pressure-reducing valves in Lindelani and Ntuzuma G on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, before moving on to Inanda Newtown A and KwaMashu, Mayor Cyril Xaba said after an oversight visit to water infrastructure in the city’s northern areas on Monday.
Several areas in the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu region, known as the INK area, are currently supplied through temporary water mains with limited capacity. Replacing pipelines washed away by recurring floods, particularly in Inanda Newtown A, is the municipality’s stated priority for restoring reliability and capacity to the supply system.
Xaba issued the instruction to the municipality’s Water and Sanitation team during the visit, which was attended by 12 ward councillors representing affected communities. The delegation inspected reservoirs and pressure-reducing valves to assess what is disrupting distribution in Ntuzuma, Lindelani, Inanda, Machobeni, Umzinyathi and KwaMashu.
The municipality names vandalism of water infrastructure and illegal connections among the main causes of supply interruptions. In Lindelani and Ntuzuma, it says tampering with pressure-reducing valves has disrupted distribution and left some communities without a reliable supply for months.
“I am pleased that the municipality has been able to procure the necessary replacement parts for the vandalised valves,” Xaba said. “The replacement process will begin on Wednesday, focusing initially on Lindelani and Ntuzuma G before proceeding to Inanda Newtown A and KwaMashu.”
Xaba put the cost of repairing a single pressure-reducing valve at between R20 000 and R160 000, money he said is diverted from extending and improving the water network. He appealed to residents to protect municipal infrastructure.
“We call on residents to work with the municipality to curb the vandalism of water infrastructure,” he said. “By protecting our infrastructure and eliminating these acts of vandalism, we can also reduce non-revenue water and improve the reliability of water supply to our communities.”
Xaba is also scheduled this week to hand over newly drilled boreholes in Lindelani, Machobeni and Inanda, intended to give affected communities additional water sources. The municipality frames the boreholes, the pipeline replacements and the valve repairs as one package of interventions in the northern areas.
The account is SAnews’s summary of the municipality’s position, published on 20 October 2026, rather than the full technical record of the works. It does not state how many valves are being replaced, how long the pipeline replacement in Inanda Newtown A will take, or what the total cost will be.
Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/ethekwini-speeds-repairs-flood-damaged-water-mains
