Major Traffic Disruptions as KZN Residents Demand Water Supply Intervention from Mayor

• Hibberdene residents protested over ongoing water shortages, blocking major routes in KwaZulu-Natal
• Community members demanded intervention from the Ugu mayor due to ongoing water supply issues affecting households
• Previous protests highlighted recurring water outages, with residents facing extended periods without access to essential services

Justin Williams, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, covers South Africa’s current affairs. Before joining Briefly News, he served as a writer and chief editor at Right for Education Africa’s South African chapter.

KWAZULU-NATAL, HIBBERDENE - Protest action over ongoing water shortages brought traffic to a halt on major routes in Hibberdene on KwaZulu-Natal's south coast on Wednesday morning, 8 April 2026.

Setting tyres alight and placing debris across the roads

Residents blocked sections of the N2 and R102 on the Durban-bound side, setting tyres alight and placing debris across the roads. Authorities reported that vehicles were also stoned as tensions escalated while attempts were made to disperse the crowd. Local community policing forum chairperson Ibrahim Shaik told EastCoastRadio that about 60 protesters had initially gathered before being dispersed, but later regrouped at the Hibberdene off-ramp, where they blocked roads with branches. He reported that residents were demanding intervention over the lack of water supply and had called for the Ugu mayor to address them.

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Shaik indicated that municipal officials, including the mayor, a local councillor and the police station commander, were present at the scene and engaging with protesters. Motorists were advised to avoid the area and use alternative routes. The demonstration follows a series of similar protests linked to prolonged water outages along the south coast. In late January, residents in Fairview blocked the N2 and R102 by dumping sand on the roads.

Households had gone up to three weeks without supply

Ward 13 Councillor Tessa Perryman indicated at the time that some households had gone up to three weeks without supply. She reported that system failures often resulted in delays of several days before water returned and said repeated requests for water tankers and additional storage had not been adequately addressed. Ugu Municipality attributed the January 2026 outages to damage to a bypass pipe at Batstone Bridge, while concerns were also raised about poor communication from officials.

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Similar disruptions were recorded earlier in March 2026 when residents from the uMgudulu informal settlement blocked the M19 near Reservoir Hills, west of Durban, over water supply problems and frequent pipe bursts. The protest caused significant traffic delays as vehicles were diverted. Ward 23 councillor Alicia Kissoon indicated that persistent low pressure and repeated infrastructure failures had left some communities without water for extended periods, despite multiple reports to the municipality.

3 More protest-related stories

• Briefly News also reported that Emfuleni residents are outraged after nearly R700 million was spent on overtime, yet communities remain plagued by service delivery failures.
• A Melville resident got social media buzzing after a video surfaced of her drawing attention to the ongoing water crisis.
• South Africans weighed in on President Cyril Ramaphosa's response to the ongoing water crisis and how the government plans to tackle it.

Source: Briefly News