Timeslive reports that the water supply on the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) south coast was held hostage on Wednesday by a group of protesters in the Harding community.  

The protesters refused to allow workers into the water treatment plants until the Ugu district municipality employed them as truck drivers and general workers.  In a statement‚ Ugu municipal spokesman France Zuma said the protest started last week when community members blocked the entrance to the municipal office.  He indicated:  "Countless meetings were convened by the leadership of the municipality with the protesters‚ where outrageous demands of employment of Harding residents for all the occupied positions of truck drivers and general workers were made.  It became abundantly clear during the meetings that the protesters were determined to cause a complete shutdown of municipal services in the area."  The action has resulted in water outages in most areas falling under the Umuziwabantu municipality.  The Ugu district municipality has been plagued by water woes as its pipeline has been repeatedly "held hostage" and sabotaged.

• Read this report by Nivashni Nair in full at Timeslive

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