Residents issue ‘No water – No rates’ ultimatum to eThekwini Municipality

Nearly 20 Durban ratepayer and resident groups have given the eThekwini Municipality two weeks to respond to a list of demands to remedy the current water supply crisis – or face a city-wide “rates withholding” protest.

The list of 11 demands, focused on giving ratepayers direct oversight on water-related budget allocations and expenditure, was presented to a senior city representative on 1 March by Asad Gaffar and Rose Cortes, leaders of the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM).

eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement chair Asad Gaffar calls for unity among Durban residents to tackle the water crisis. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

Speaking at a public meeting at the Curries Fountain sports stadium in central Durban, Gaffar said the ERPM was determined to push ahead with an economic protest.

The aim was not to “hurt the city” but to rather “press the reset button” and put economic pressure on the municipality to deal more swiftly with the water supply crisis. An estimated 40% of city water leaks out of pipe infrastructure and a further 10% is not billed or paid for.

“We have to stand united. It is the only leverage that we have and it is something we can use … we have to hold the city accountable,” Gaffar said.

The ERPM list of demands, handed to Councillor Nkosenhle Madlala, states that: “We expect a comprehensive response to these demands within 14 days. Failure to address these pressing issues will lead to further action, including mass withholding of ratepayers’ payments to this city until a concrete agreement and solution is reached.”

The memorandum demands that the municipality should address “the failing infrastructure in a comprehensive and transparent manner. This must include clear timelines, budget allocations and performance metrics with ratepayer oversight mechanisms in place.”



Although the memorandum was signed or supported by several ratepayer and civic groups from across the city, it remains unclear to what extent individual ratepayers will heed a call to withhold rates – given the result of a similar rates protest two years ago by the Westville Ratepayers Association, when the city threatened to disconnect the electricity of customers who failed to pay their utility bills.

The municipality has not yet responded formally to the latest ERPM memorandum, but on 23 February it issued a statement announcing the immediate suspension of a government-mandated water rationing system which requires eThekwini to reduce its daily tap water consumption by nearly 8.5% over the next 12 months.

The decision to temporarily suspend the water rationing until 23 April was announced in a joint statement by the national Department of Water and Sanitation, eThekwini and the regional water utility uMngeni-uThukela Water after a series of water shortages in several parts of the city over recent months.

Addressing about 350 people at Curries Fountain, Musgrave Ratepayers Association representative Busi Ntshingila said people had been “complaining and complaining, but nothing has been done”.

“South African citizens have been frustrated into submission – so let’s try something different,” she suggested.

A protester displays a placard at Curries Fountain, Durban. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

Selvan Moodley of the Chatsworth Concerned Citizens movement said that “there is more water running on the streets than there is in our taps” while fellow Chatsworth activist Puran Jankipersadh said he was aware of people in Klaarwater who had been out of tap water for more than 25 days.

Tholithemba Mthiyane of the Verulam Civic Association said he knew of people in his area who had had no water for two years.

“This is a problem that cuts across colour, race or creed. We pay for the water. It’s not rainwater we are talking about, so we are requesting (the city) to put its house in order.”

Norman Gilbert of the Bluff Ratepayers and Residents Association said water shortages and regular sewage leaks were killing the local tourism industry and that despite having a budget of billions, the city’s meagre budget to hire plumbers to repair water leaks was “blown in the first five months” of the year.

Alice Govender of the Phoenix Civic and Ratepayers Association likened eThekwini municipality to a swamp, declaring: “It’s time to drain the swamp”

“Our schoolchildren don’t have clean clothes and our schools close down when the water is cut off … the elderly and infirm cannot bathe from buckets.”

Raakhee Bridgemohan from Shallcross said she was “done with excuses and lies”. 

“We are not going to back down. We pay for rates and services, but get nothing in return”.

Dr Nora Saneka berates eThekwini municipal leaders for failing to avert tap water failures. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

Durban childhood rights activist Dr Nora Saneka recalled that when water ran out at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in 2022, toilets could not be flushed and patient hygiene suffered.

“Babies die if they get diarrhoea and don’t get immediate treatment … We have been warning about the problems for two to three years but nothing was done by eThekwini. It’s like the Titanic going towards the iceberg, unable to turn around in time.”

Durban activist Lubna Nadvi turns her back on protesters, urging them to read and heed the message printed on her T-shirt. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

Activist Lubna Nadvi told residents to go back to their families and friends to persuade them to give their support to the ERPM, and to organise themselves to camp outside or inside the Durban City Hall until there was a clear resolution to the crisis.

Yet, despite the stirring speeches at Curries Fountain, the proof of the pudding will be whether individual ratepayers are prepared to hold back rate payments.

In 2023, several members of the Westville Ratepayers Association paid revenue into a trust account and declared a dispute with the city. When the municipality threatened to cut off their electricity, at least five residents sought an urgent Durban High Court interdict,  but acting judge Jabu Thobela-Mkhulisi refused to grant their request.

Citing previous case law, Thobela-Mkhulisi said that if residents declared a dispute in terms of the Municipal Systems Act, they were required to present evidence of specific financial disagreement rather than delaying payments by “raising a dispute in general terms”.

“The (Westville) Association is embarking on a payment boycott whilst demanding the provision of services. This is an entirely different matter, one that does not fall within section 102(2) (of the Act) and about which entirely different legal principles apply,” she said.

Speaking after the Saturday protest meeting, ERPM co-ordinator Rose Cortes told Daily Maverick she was aware that ratepayers feared having their electricity supplies cut, but urged them to consider a bold stand.

“There are only 525,000 municipal utility account holders in a city of close to four million people. If we can persuade thousands of ratepayers to not pay simultaneously – just for one month – I think we will see some more rapid movement from the city to resolve these issues,” she said. DM