No water, and no accountability from Ilembe

Continued from Page 1 Councillor Rishi Pooran and senior Ilembe officials, in which these matters were briefly ventilated. However it appears that no solutions were offered during a meeting. Residents further claim that Ward 13 Councillor Nkululeko Qwabe has throughout the crisis appeared happy to take the backseat, and allow the PR councillor to handle the crisis.

On Monday Xpress Times sent an urgent query to the municipality, requesting an explanation for the endless outage, and also the reasons for the absence of water tankers to provide some relief fr the residents. We were promised a detailed response, which, true to form, was never received.

It would therefore appear that of one is expecting water, water tankers or answers from Ilembe, then one is guaranteed a very long wait. Ilembe, in particular the Technical Services Department, is simply incapable of providing any of those.

Dead end

“Over and above the water outage over the weekend we have many leaks that have been reported since December that are still outstanding. Thousands of kilolitres of water (are being) wasted .The current logging system is not working as anticipated. The logs are now duplicated and new numbers allocated.

“Some of the repairs are outstanding but customers receive messages to say it's completed. We are at the dead end with the current service provided by Ilembe. We are aware of the upgrade to the infrastructure which is a 12month project. We need a quick fix (solution) to water leaks and quick turnaround time in repairs.

“This water issue is actually a violation of (people's) basic human rights. Residents suffer for days without water. Ilembe has tankers which should be used in such cases (but) this is not happening,” stated Cllr Pooran.

Cllr Nzo Nkosi recently conducted an oversight visit to assess the progress of various projects being undertaken by the Maphumulo Municipality. The visit aimed to ensure that the projects are being implemented in line with the approved plans, evaluate the quality of work being done by the Municipality and ensure that all projects are being executed in line with the approved budgets and timelines.

During the visit, Mayor Khuzwayo-Dlamini together with the committee members visited eMvozane Community Service Centre, Mnawe Road, Okhalweni Road, Sabuyaze Sports field and the R74 Highway construction site to meet with project managers and contractors. The delegation inspected the project sites and reviewed project documentation to ensure that all necessary procedures and protocols are being followed with the intention of identifying any challenges that need to be addressed. Although the delegation expressed satisfaction with the progress made with some of the projects thus far, it also noted and commented on projects that are not performing as planned and vowed to take corrective action.

The oversight visit is part of the Municipality's commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability, and good governance. The Municipality remains committed to delivering quality infrastructure and services to its residents and will continue to monitor the progress of all municipal projects to ensure that they are completed on time, within budget and to the required standards.

Three firearms were seized after a suspicious vehicle was searched in the CBD

A multi-disciplinary operation conducted in the KwaDukuza CBD last week resulted in four suspects being detained, and three firearms, including a gas gun, being seized.

The operation was sparked by a vigilant member of the KwaDukuza CBD CPF spotting a suspicious vehicle in the CBD. The Chairperson of the CBD CPF Salim Tootla was then alerted. Tootla then placed the vehicle under observation and called for police back up.

Local SAPS led by Captain Perumal, assisted by the CPF and Tyger Security searched the vehicle, resulting in the recovery of firearms, and the four men being detained.

All role-players have been commended for their vigilance and dedication, as efforts continue to rid the KwaDukuza CBD of crime.

KwaDukuza SAPS communications officer, Constable Siphesihle Myeni, said the suspects have been charged and would soon appear in court.

By Xpress Reporter

A gruelling 2-day search for a 27-year man who drowned while fishing on the Tugela River near Sans Souci has ended with the tragic discovery of the body. The man was last seen by passerby on Tuesday last week, fishing on the river, before he apparently decided to take a swim as it was a humid day. That was when he reportedly got into difficulty and disappeared under water.

IPSS Search and Rescue, SAPS K9 Unit and KDM Lifeguards all responded to the scene to begin the search, but to no avail. The following day

Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) flew to the incident scene in their helicopter to join the search. Upon landing, the RUISA crew received a briefing from the ground team consisting of Umhlali SAPS K9 Unit, Sundumbili SAPS and IPSS Search and Rescue.

In a statement, IPSS Medical Rescue said the body had been spotted by members of the community in a location that was not accessible by vehicles. This necessitated a long hike by the search and rescue teams who, after locating the body, requested assistance from RUSA to airlift the body to the waiting vehicles far down the river.

Drowned fisherman airlifted from Tugela River

“It was confirmed that the body of a 27 year old man who drowned in 1.5 meters of water on Tuesday (had been) recovered approximately 300 metres downstream by Search & Rescue technicians in the crocodile infested river t(that) afternoon. They requested assistance to fly the body to Medico Legal Mortuary (MLM) employees.

“The deceased was loaded into the aircraft and flown approximately two (2) kilometres to the awaiting vehicle. The scene of the drowning could not be accessed by vehicles,” stated RUSA.