On 28 September 2026, eThekwini Municipality commissioned a crucial 3.8-kilometre segment of Work Package 2 in the R1.2 billion Southern Aqueduct project, a strategic bulk water upgrade aimed at strengthening water supply to Durban’s southern and central areas.
The commissioned stretch runs between Shallcross and Northdene, comprising approximately 2.5 kilometres of 1,200mm-diameter steel pipeline and 1.3 kilometres of 1,400mm-diameter pipeline. This installation forms part of the wider 24-kilometre Southern Aqueduct system serving roughly 1.2 million residents through 33 reservoirs.
Siduduzo Mtshali, Project Executive, explained at the commissioning that “this infrastructure will facilitate the supply of water and improve operational flexibility within the network.” He highlighted the impact on local communities, stating, “This will provide greater security of supply to the primary and secondary reservoirs in the central and southern parts of Chatsworth, serving approximately 300 000 residents. It will also strengthen supply security to downstream reservoirs in uMlazi and Folweni, which serve approximately 500 000 residents.”
Work Package 1 was commissioned earlier in May 2026, connecting the Westcliff and Chatsworth Reservoirs with downstream reserves in Umlazi. Independent coverage confirms Work Packages 1 and 3 have been completed and commissioned, while Work Package 2 is partly commissioned with this latest section now brought online.
In preparation for continued work under Work Package 6, eThekwini Municipality announced a planned 48-hour water shutdown from 06:00 on 29 September to 06:00 on 1 October 2026 in parts of Westville. This outage is needed to facilitate tie-in works on two major connection chambers and is expected to affect portions of the Inner West, Central, and South Durban regions.
Ednick Msweli, Executive Director for Technical Services, commented on the project’s significance: “The successful commissioning of this section of the Southern Aqueduct demonstrates the Municipality’s commitment to investing in infrastructure that improves the reliability and resilience of our bulk water supply network.” Mayor Cyril Xaba also noted the progress, saying, “We are making excellent progress with the Southern Aqueduct upgrade, with several work packages already completed.”
The Southern Aqueduct serves as a critical step in replacing aging infrastructure and improving the water supply’s redundancy for Durban. Its phased roll-out aims to reduce outages and increase operational flexibility for a growing population across densely populated southern suburbs.
While some specific technical details about valve chambers and the pipeline’s expected 50-year lifespan remain unconfirmed by multiple sources, the overall project scope and recent milestones are independently verified by multiple municipal releases and media reports. This section’s commissioning reinforces ongoing efforts to secure water access for more than one million residents across eThekwini’s southern and central wards.
CapeFlats.co.za will monitor further developments on the Southern Aqueduct, including the progress of Work Package 6 and any impacts from the scheduled water shutdown.