The KwaZulu-Natal south coast’s economy has taken a huge hit due to corruption and water outages. Local businesses are losing money and residents are moving away.The Ugu district municipality, which has been the subject of a forensic investigation that found evidence of misappropriation of about R300m, is at the centre of this political, environmental and economic quagmire. Ugu runs from Scottburgh to Port Edward and inland to Harding.
Steve Herbst, who runs an airconditioner firm, says his business was affected during the festive season when parts of the coast had no water for 13 days and Uvongo and Lucien beaches were closed because of unsafe E. coli levels after leakage and apparent dumping of sewage into the Uvongo River."We had no water for 13 days in places like Southbroom, Shelly Beach, Uvongo and Ramsgate," Herbst tells the FM.