Durban water repairs at risk as thousands of plumbers face uncertainty

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in eThekwini has called on Mayor Cyril Xaba to urgently intervene in a dispute surrounding the municipality’s plumbing contractors, warning that the uncertainty could further affect essential water services across the city.

In a statement dated 19 August 2026, DA eThekwini councillor Andre Beetge said the municipality needed to find a sustainable and cost-effective model for its plumbing contracts while ensuring it had sufficient capacity to address the city’s ongoing maintenance backlog.

Over a thousand plumbing workers affected in Durban

According to the DA, 1 869 plumbing contractors and their employees have been left uncertain about whether their work will continue.

The party said this comes as eThekwini continues to deal with a large backlog of water leaks and burst pipes, as well as escalating water losses.

“The Municipality must get value for money from its plumbing contracts while ensuring that sufficient capacity is available to attend to the city’s thousands of outstanding bursts and leaks,” Beetge said.

He accused the municipality of failing to resolve the issue despite contractors raising their concerns directly with the mayor.

Contractors met with mayor three weeks ago

The DA said around 300 affected contractors met with Mayor Xaba and municipal officials approximately three weeks ago.

According to Beetge, the mayor committed his office to addressing their concerns.

However, he said that three weeks later, no meaningful intervention or solution had been communicated to the affected contractors. The DA described the situation as a failure of both financial management and service delivery.

“Residents deserve a municipality that can get both right,” Beetge said.

The party is calling for eThekwini to develop a contracting model that balances the need to control municipal spending with the need to maintain sufficient resources to respond to water infrastructure problems.

Beetge said municipal contracts should deliver value for money, be managed transparently and support the effective delivery of essential services.

Pipeline leaks and supply issues run rife

This comes as Durban residents face continuing water supply disruptions and shutdowns.

The latest setback comes just one day after the planned shutdown of the pipeline as part of the Southern Aqueduct Upgrade Project.

The eThekwini Municipality said the leak developed on 20 August 2026 while the Prestressed Concrete Pipeline (PCP) was being charged following the completion of planned work.

The latest incident is particularly significant because it occurred while the pipeline was being recharged after planned work linked to the Southern Aqueduct Upgrade Project.

While the shutdown has affected multiple areas in Durban, the municipality has not provided a new timeframe for the restoration of normal water supply.