Free tools · Drinking water · KwaZulu-Natal
Is the tap water safe in Big Five Hlabisa?
The government’s latest official rating puts 10 of the 26 drinking-water systems of the Umkhanyakude District Municipality at high or critical risk, and 16 at low or medium risk. It’s the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024, published in March 2026.
This is the government’s latest official assessment (published in March 2026, on data from July 2023 to June 2024), not a live test of your tap water or a guarantee that it’s safe.
Water in Big Five Hlabisa is the responsibility of the Umkhanyakude District Municipality, so the figures here are for all the district’s systems and works, not only those in Big Five Hlabisa. The district also supplies Inkosi Mtubatuba, Jozini and Umhlabuyalingana.
- 10 of 26Drinking-water systems at high or critical riskBlue Drop risk 2024, district
- 0 of 11Sewage works in a critical stateGreen Drop 2024, below 31%
- MediumWater losses riskNo Drop 2025, 63.3%
Each drinking-water system, 2024
| System | Risk |
|---|---|
| Enkanyezini | Low 25.6% |
| Hlabisa | High 70.1% |
| Hluhluwe Phase1 | Low 28.7% |
| Hluhluwe Phase2 | Medium 63.8% |
| Ingwavuma | High 71.0% |
| Jozini (New) | Low 40.6% |
| Jozini (Old) | Low 30.8% |
| KwaJobe | Critical 98.9% |
| Makhonyeni | Low 47.8% |
| Malobeni | Low 33.9% |
| Manguzi | High 82.2% |
| Manguzi Airfield | Low 39.9% |
| Mashabane | Low 28.1% |
| Mbazwana | Low 21.6% |
| Mjindi Central | High 75.4% |
| Mkuze | High 75.9% |
| Mpembeni | Low 33.6% |
| Mseleni | Low 31.3% |
| Mshudu | Medium 67.9% |
| Mtubatuba | Medium 62.9% |
| Mzinyeni | Critical 98.7% |
| Nkolokotho | High 83.3% |
| Nondubuya | Critical 95.3% |
| Shemula | Low 37.3% |
| Shemula Old | Critical 99.0% |
| Thengane | Low 29.6% |
The department’s risk rating for each system, from its Blue Drop risk assessment of 2024 (data from July 2023 to June 2024). Below 50% is low risk; 90% or more is critical.
What the ratings mean
The Department of Water and Sanitation rates each drinking-water system’s risk from four things: the size of its treatment works and how close it runs to capacity (35% of the rating), whether its water met the national drinking-water standard, SANS 241, in tests, and whether enough tests were done (35%), the skills of its staff (20%), and whether it has a water safety plan (10%).
The rating is a share of the worst possible score, so higher is worse: below 50% is low risk, 50% to under 70% medium, 70% to under 90% high, and 90% or more critical. It describes how a system was run and tested over a year, not the water in your glass today.
Your water today
For the water in your tap today, ask the Umkhanyakude District Municipality. It’s responsible for the water here and issues boil-water notices. If it issues one, follow it.
The department’s report for KwaZulu-Natal has each system’s full scorecard: Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: KwaZulu-Natal.
Sewage works
Sewage works don’t supply your tap, but what they release flows into rivers and dams, and the department’s Green Drop report links poorly treated sewage to risks for public health downstream. In its audit for 2024, none of the 11 works the district runs were in a critical state.
| Works | Score | Category | Releases into |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethesda/ Ubombo | 57.6% | Average | Not printed |
| Hlabisa Hospital | 58.0% | Average | Imane River (Hluhluwe River) |
| Hluhluwe | 57.7% | Average | Mzinene River |
| Ingwavuma Hospital | 55.1% | Average | Phongola River |
| Jozini | 60.3% | Average | Phongola River |
| KwaMsane | 54.5% | Average | Mfolozi River |
| Manguzi Hospital | 78.4% | Average | No Discharge |
| Mkuze | 74.9% | Average | Mkuze River |
| Mseleni Hospital | 56.1% | Average | No Discharge |
| Mtubatuba | 58.8% | Average | Not printed |
| St Lucia | 59.9% | Average | Not printed |
Green Drop audit for 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024), published in March 2026. The department’s categories: 90% or more is excellent, 80% good, 50% average, 31% very poor, and below 31% a critical state. Higher is better. “Releases into” is where the works discharges, as the report prints it.
Water losses
The department’s No Drop assessment of 2025 rates the Umkhanyakude District Municipality’s management of water losses at medium risk (63.3%; below 50% is low risk, 90% or more critical). In 2023/24, 93% of the water it put into its pipes was never billed: lost to leaks and bursts, taken illegally, or used without a bill. The department rates the accuracy of those figures as poor (guessed). Its report counts more than 40% as extremely poor, and less than 10% as excellent.
The last full audit: Blue Drop scores, 2023 (22 systems)
The full Blue Drop audit of July 2021 to June 2022, published in 2023. Higher is better: 95% or more is excellent, and below 31% a critical state. Systems may be named differently from 2024.
| System | Score | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Enkanyezini | 77.0% | Average |
| Hlabisa | 59.8% | Average |
| Hluhluwe Phase 1 | 84.7% | Good |
| Hluhluwe Phase 2 | 62.2% | Average |
| Ingwavuma | 57.6% | Average |
| Jozini New | 73.0% | Average |
| Jozini Old | 62.6% | Average |
| Makhonyeni | 70.4% | Average |
| Malobeni | 73.6% | Average |
| Manguzi | 54.9% | Average |
| Manguzi Airfield | 67.1% | Average |
| Mbazwana | 70.0% | Average |
| Mjindi Central | 72.5% | Average |
| Mkuze | 64.2% | Average |
| Mpembeni | 71.3% | Average |
| Mseleni | 71.1% | Average |
| Mshudu | 73.6% | Average |
| Mtubatuba | 78.4% | Average |
| Nkolokotho | 65.7% | Average |
| Nondubuya | 56.4% | Average |
| Shemula | 74.6% | Average |
| Thengane | 75.1% | Average |
Elsewhere in Umkhanyakude
- Inkosi Mtubatuba10 of 26
- Jozini10 of 26
- Umhlabuyalingana10 of 26
Drinking-water systems at high or critical risk, of all those rated.
More for Big Five Hlabisa
- Big Five Hlabisa on one pageEvery figure we hold, with its source
- Big Five HlabisaWards, electricity, water
- Is your tap water safe?Our story
- Every municipalityTap water nationally
Source: Department of Water and Sanitation, Blue Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025: KwaZulu-Natal, Blue Drop Report 2023: KwaZulu-Natal, Green Drop Report 2025: KwaZulu-Natal, No Drop Progress Assessment Report 2025 (complete), through our water quality dataset, release 2026-11-12.