PIETERMARITZBURG, KwaZulu-Natal – The ongoing Smero service delivery crisis has reached a boiling point for residents near Pietermaritzburg, who are enduring severe water and electricity shortages. While emergency repairs on a vital community bridge finally began overnight, locals say the infrastructure fixes are merely a drop in the ocean for a community that has been neglected for years.
For the residents of Smero, accessing basic necessities has become a daily struggle. At the heart of the recent outcry is a critical bridge built in 1987 as a temporary relief measure during floods. The structure connects several communities, allowing those without running water to access supply from neighboring areas. However, the bridge had been closed for several days, completely cutting off this lifeline.
According to community members, repairs on the bridge only got underway late at night after a media team contacted the local ward councillor. While residents have welcomed the sudden municipal intervention, they expressed frustration that it took external pressure to prompt action.
Beyond the bridge closure, the community is grappling with long-standing and devastating service delivery failures. Residents report that some households have been without running water for up to a decade, forcing them to rely entirely on water tankers. Even when the taps do work, the water pressure is severely compromised.
“The pressing issue is water which is a crisis here,” explained a local resident, known to the community as Mama. “There is a lot of water that’s running through the roads here and the water gets cut anytime. There are places with no water for 8 to 15 years… Now the problem is all of a sudden you don’t just say we have water. It just runs for two hours and after that it’s cut.”
Mama further alleged that the inconsistent water supply is due to dilapidated underground infrastructure and suspected sabotage in the area.
The crisis is not limited to water; electricity shortages are also plunging the community into darkness. Another resident highlighted that some families have been without power for weeks. He recounted a specific incident where a transformer blew three years ago—an issue residents attribute to Eskom rather than local fault. Since then, those households have been left entirely without electricity, forcing them to collect firewood just to cook and stay warm.
Adding to the misery is a severe housing shortage. The community says they have exhausted all official channels to get help.
“We’ve been submitted in a report… to the municipality, even as the office of the mayor,” he stated. “We have also contacted the department of housing regarding the shortage of houses. We have also sent an email to the email address of the ruling party. There’s nothing that we are receiving as positive feedback to us.”
Desperate for intervention, residents say they are at their wits’ end and have turned to the media to make the government and various departments hear their cries.
Municipal leadership is now expected to address the mounting frustrations. The ward councillor and the deputy mayor have made themselves available to respond to the community’s demands and explain the municipality’s plan to resolve the decade-long service delivery failures in Smero.
