Heavy Downpours | Some NMB communities left without water and electricity

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Nearly 2 weeks ago, Delores Magny and her husband Andrew narrowly escaped tragedy after strong winds uprooted a decades-old tree sending it crashing through their roof. The elderly couple has since been displaced with many of their belongings still trapped beneath the rubble.

[00:00:21]As I'm sitting here, my handbag is inside. I can't get my old pay because all my cards and stuff are in there.

[00:00:27]They can't get into my room because the cupboards are crushed. The toilet is flat on the floor. So, I actually don't know what to say. I don't know what to feel. I have to sleep at this one's house tonight and someone else's house the next night. At my age of 83, I can't do it. Other residents say the area has long struggled with unreliable electricity and water supply even before the devastating storms. They say now they have to stand watch every night so that their cables don't get stolen before the municipality comes to repair the lines. And I in the evenings, you must not go early to bed.

[00:01:04]Uh got no food in the fridges anymore. We had to dump everything.

[00:01:12]Everyday my wife has to travel far to my daughter to get water or cook.

[00:01:18]But to do that, you need gas and gas is expensive. We are always the last to get electricity. The water is now off. Residents in more affluent parts of the industrial town say the ongoing outages are making daily life nearly impossible.

[00:01:35]With only one bucket truck currently in operation, restoration efforts have been slow.

[00:01:41]We've got electric fencing, we've got Atlas and everything, but none of it I don't want to actually want to say it on TV, but I mean none of it is actually working now because and you you're scared. You're actually scared at night to go to sleep because there's no security around you. There's just darkness.

[00:01:56]>> So, it's been chaos you know, we live in a community where many people are are working from home at the moment and you know, that affects that they the income. It's not only just about not water and electricity, it's also about the income that you're not getting at the moment. In Kwanobuhle, residents are still grappling with the impact of the devastating 2024 floods.

[00:02:18]Nobody comes to clean the drains properly. So, that water can flow. We know that even if it rains heavily, we are in trouble because the water does not flow properly. They just come and take photos and make empty promises.

[00:02:33]While the municipality could not provide a definitive time frame for full electricity restoration across the metro, officials say water supply to affected areas should return by next week. We fully understand the frustrations of residents. However, it is equally important to appreciate the scale of infrastructure damage caused by flooding, including damaged electricity poles, power lines and related infrastructure. Restoration work has required specialized technical teams, safety assessments and coordinated interventions across multiple affected areas within the metro. The municipality remains committed to restoring services as quickly, as safely and as sustainably as possible. Community leaders say better disaster planning and infrastructure maintenance are needed to reduce the impact of severe weather events in the metro.

[00:03:28]The local business chamber has also warned that ongoing water and electricity instability makes it increasingly difficult to attract and retain investors in the city.

[00:03:39]Kim Daniels, SABC News, Kariega.

[00:03:59]>> Mhm.