Durban - eThekwini Municipality has urged residents to stop spreading fake news about the city’s tap water quality as it said tests had shown that the water was safe to drink.
The municipality was commenting yesterday after Durban councillor Visvin Reddy said he will be going back to drinking tap water after the latest tests on samples from different areas in the city showed that it was safe to drink.
A stir was caused at the weekend after Reddy, from African Democratic Change, stated that he had taken ill and was hospitalised because of an E Coli infection, implying that he could only have been infected from drinking water as he had not gone to any of the beaches that were suspected to be polluted.
In response, the eThekwini Municipality said it had conducted water quality tests which revealed that the tap water was safe to drink.
Thereafter eThekwini partnered with Umgeni Water to test the water again with samples taken on Saturday. The latest tests conducted by Umgeni Water found the water fit for human consumption.
Reddy posted on his social media yesterday that the test conducted by Umgeni Water and eThekwini had found that the water was safe to drink.
“Umgeni Water and eThekwini water have conducted sample testing from taps in various areas. The results prove that the water is safe to drink, in fact it meets the highest standards,” Reddy said, adding that he would be going back to drinking tap water.
The municipality yesterday urged residents to stop spreading fake news about the water quality in the city.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela expressed the municipality’s frustration at having to constantly defend itself and insisted the city would “never let people drink contaminated water”.
“Our water is clean, now can people stop this because it is creating a lot of problems for us,” said Mayisela.
“We would derive no joy in making people drink water that is contaminated.
“We are beginning to suspect that there is a brigade out there intent on tarnishing the image of the municipality by deliberately spreading fake news,” he said.
Mayisela added that there appeared to be a continued campaign of disinformation.
“For instance, one woman claimed publicly that her child had fallen ill because of an E coli infection and she was aware of many people in hospitals because of the infection, but that was not true.
“This continued campaign of disinformation is causing a lot of problems. Instead of doing the business of the municipality, we are finding ourselves having to invest resources to respond to fake news. That is why we truly believe there are people who are intent on destabilising the municipality. They will not succeed,” said Mayisela.