65% of water supplied to eThekwini is wasted, unpaid for: Department

The Department of Water and Sanitation has raised concerns over the amount of clean tap water being lost to leaks in the eThekwini Municipality, while some communities continue to experience dry taps.

The department says more than 65 – percent of the water supplied to the municipality is wasted and remains unpaid for.

Department Deputy Minister Jack Bloom conducted an oversight visit to the municipality over the weekend.

I’m with Roshan in Verulam, Ethekwini, as we look at a gushing leak while residents haven’t had tap water for years.

There are more than 13000 leaks in this city! pic.twitter.com/4dUNSryfXz — Jack Bloom (@JackBloomDA) August 20, 2026 Bloom says water losses, including unmetered water, are making it difficult to fund infrastructure repairs and are further worsening the situation.

“About one in two liters of water, clean water, provided to eThekwini is actually lost through leaking taps and the figures they had were leaking pipes and the figures that they gave us was more than 13 000 leaks.

It’s a huge backlog and part of the problem is because they had to change the contracts for the plumbers that they have and when I was there, they were blockading the depots and it’s just been announced that an agreement has been reached but there’s still this massive backlog.

Meanwhile, we are a water-scarce country and people don’t abort in their taps and then there it is gushing down the streets.” RELATED VIDEO: Water Focus | Minister Pemmy Majodina responds to the water crisis in SA