Municipalities urged to prioritise damaged infrastructure

Staff Reporter

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, Sello Seitlholo, has called on municipalities with dysfunctional wastewater treatment works (WWTW) to prioritise infrastructure as a matter of urgency.

Seitlholo made the call during his visit to uMhlathuzana, Umhlanga and Phoenix Wastewater Treatment Works in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal.

Seitlholo visited the wastewater treatment works on Wednesday to assess progress made to repair infrastructure damaged by floods over two years ago.

EThekwini Municipality entered into a bulk wastewater operation and maintenance contract with uMngeni-uThukela Water and as part of the agreement, the water board is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 10 of the municipality’s wastewater treatment works.

The WWTWs included in the contract account for 90% of the sewage managed by the municipality.

During the visit, Seitlholo said it was good to see that eThekwini Municipality has realised that through working with uMngeni-uThukela Water, they will be able to