The eThekwini Municipality is facing issues due to the inefficient operation of contractors, specifically noting delays in the supply, delivery, and unloading of domestic water meters. The municipality has already been struggling with unaccounted-for water losses.
According to an assessment conducted, eight contracts from the Department of Water and Sanitation demonstrate low performance. Executive Committee member (Exco) advisor Andre Beetge noted that such contracts should be awarded to reliable companies. He stated this during a council meeting while discussing the activities of external service providers.
The municipal performance monitoring report for the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year assessed 521 contracts. The evaluation revealed 15 contracts with poor performance, 456 acceptable, and 30 with satisfactory performance.
The municipality's finance committee indicated that the main reasons for low efficiency are cash flow problems, which prevent service providers from carrying out work and paying subcontractors. The committee also stated that the measures taken to rectify the situation are insufficient because similar problems occur constantly.
Insufficient performance was observed in the modernization of treatment facilities at the Buffelsdraai landfill (costing 17 million rand), waste collection and street cleaning in Chesterville and surrounding areas (costing 20 million rand), repair of power lines and substation-related assets (costing 79.2 million rand), as well as the restoration of various roads in the western region of eThekwini (costing 150 million rand).
Beetge specified that eight out of the fifteen instances of low performance relate to the Department of Water and Sanitation: six concern fresh water, and two concern sanitation. He suggested this has led to approximately 53% of unaccounted-for water losses and estimated billing. The advisor also expressed concern over a 36-month contract for the supply, delivery, and unloading of 15mm and 25mm domestic water meters, valued at 27 million rand.
Furthermore, Beetge raised the issue that a service provider has not been appointed for the modernization of SCADA and telemetry systems for water and wastewater monitoring. He noted that despite claims of having meters in stock, residents can confirm the presence of broken, bypassed, or faulty meters, or a complete lack of meters to determine actual consumption. Beetge stated that the Tender Approval Committee continues to award these critically important contracts to those who lack the financial stability to pay for materials, maintain workforce, or pay contractors. He emphasized that the 510 million rand in problematic water-related contracts is a serious concern.
eThekwini Mayor, Cyril Shabha, stated that all contracts are under control to ensure compliance. He noted that he expected good work from most contractors, and only a small percentage of contracts showed low performance. Shabha added that lessons can be learned from these errors to avoid repeating past mistakes and stressed the need to ensure high service quality and adequate return on investment when selecting a company. The committee also clarified that a notice of non-compliance does not automatically mean contract termination, as a period is required to remedy the violations. The municipality explained that suppliers failing to meet obligations due to cash flow problems are supported through cession agreements to prevent project cancellation and implementation delays. Contracts terminated due to non-performance undergo a formal blacklisting process to exclude contractors with past issues from the municipality's system and all other government bodies.
Almada is experiencing a water supply crisis, accompanied by water outages in various districts. The situation was worsened by a major malfunction.
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A critical water crisis has emerged in the eThekwini municipality as the number of incomplete repairs continues to rise daily, with open water supply defects exceeding 12,000 by mid-June.
eThekwini councillors plan to use a district-based municipal budget program to address water pipe leaks. Each of the 111 municipal districts is allocated an annual budget of 2 million rand for basic district projects. Andre Betge, an eThekwini Executive Committee (EXCO) member, reported that by the second week of June, the number of open faults reached over 12,000, and the internal municipal structure cannot even handle major bursts.
Only 199 major bursts were recorded on Wednesday, June 10, while reports indicated only two plumbers were present in the central Durban region. The situation is exacerbated by the march of the eThekwini Plumbers Panel, who headed to the Durban City Hall on Monday to submit a memorandum to officials demanding clarification on two tenders announced in December 2025.
The plumbers expressed outrage that they were informed about the awarding of five new general contractors, while the water resource department required them to work only through the council's existing plumber registry. This led to job losses for many specialists. Betge noted that the municipality is starting a new fiscal year with a deficit equivalent to approximately 60% of next year's budget.
He explained that on December 12, 2025, the municipality launched a comprehensive tender, inviting its army of contract plumbers and any other interested parties to submit documentation to legalize long-standing irregular appointments and establish appropriate contractual terms. Applications were closed just seven days later, on December 19, allowing the municipality to report to the council and satisfy the requirements of the Auditor-General related to grant funding.
According to Betge, out of the 509 applications received, only three participants met the necessary criteria for Groups 1, 2, and 6, providing a repair capacity of only 23.5 million rand. Implementation was further slowed by legal proceedings from unsuccessful applicants, whose appeals were ultimately dismissed with costs awarded. Successful participants were only appointed on May 25, 2026.
It is reported that the successful contractors lacked sufficient resources for plumbing work to cope with the existing backlog, increasing dependence on municipal staff. Betge mentioned that discussions about increasing contract sums were underway before significant work began, and these plumbers were supposed to be hired on Friday, but there were no reports of this.
Betge was also aware of two entries into municipal depots that were allegedly blocked by contractors, hindering municipal plumbers from addressing leaks. Officials cite incorrect invoicing and contractors' unwillingness to comply with the recently introduced electronic submission and verification system, while contractors claim the system is cumbersome, poorly communicated, and never properly trained. Prospective contractors were required to provide valid professional qualifications and then undergo municipal theoretical and practical certification to obtain permission to work on municipal infrastructure.
Furthermore, there are ongoing concerns regarding the quality of materials purchased and stored by the municipality. It is suspected that the use of low-quality products, insufficient stock of spare parts, and unstable supply chains contributed to premature failures and compromised repairs. The eThekwini municipality received a memorandum, but it did not respond to media inquiries at the time of publication.
