eThekwini names sabotage as plumbing dispute reaches Durban City Hall
City manager Musa Mbhele told a parliamentary committee that legal action is under way, while a DA MPL said unpaid subcontractors are the root of the problem.
eThekwini’s top leadership was questioned in the Durban City Hall on Wednesday over a dispute with the city’s independent plumbers that has disrupted water supply in parts of the metro and left municipal infrastructure damaged.
The municipality recently changed how it recruits plumbers, absorbing its independent plumbers under main contractors after the Auditor General raised concerns about the old arrangement. The plumbers pushed back against the change. Water infrastructure at city depots was then damaged, according to SABC News.
What the committee heard
The city’s leadership appeared before the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs portfolio committee to account for how it has handled the contracts dispute.
City Manager Musa Mbhele condemned the damage to municipal infrastructure and said the city is pursuing legal action. He rejected claims that eThekwini owes money to contractors.
“Not a single time was the issue of non payment of contractors was ever raised,” Mbhele told the committee. “It is now only being raised when they are burning tyres and destroying municipal infrastructure.”
Mbhele said the city’s records show contractors were paid, and that the payment complaint surfaced only after the destruction began.
The accusation from the DA
Democratic Alliance MPL Tim Brauteseth put a different case to the committee. He accused the city of appointing questionable main contractors and failing to pay subcontractors, and said that mismanagement created the standoff with the plumbers.
“They are now deliberately damaging your infrastructure and the police are doing nothing,” Brauteseth said. He added that plumbers cannot be brought in to carry out repairs because they fear for their safety.
What it costs residents
The dispute has already reached the taps. The damage to infrastructure at city depots disrupted water supply, and the repair work depends on the same plumbing capacity that is now in dispute.
The city has been running a R100 million pipe replacement programme. Mayor Cyril Xaba visited Phoenix on 10 September to assess progress on that programme, where most of the pipes have already been installed. The municipality says the work has significantly improved supply in Wards 48, 102 and 110.
What happens next
The city says it is pursuing legal action over the damage. The portfolio committee has now heard both accounts of how the dispute began, and the question of who is owed what remains contested between the municipality and its critics.
Source: SABC News (website), eThekwini water, sanitation dispute in the spotlight
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