The Minister for Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu has threatened to invoke a section of the constitution to take over the provision of water in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality should his directives not be headed.
Mchunu led a meeting with a delegation from the provincial government and stakeholders that include business forums in Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West to find a solution to water shortages in the region.
The Minister said the district municipality has not been accountable for failing to provide a detailed report of the water and sanitation infrastructure in Ditsobotla.
“What is clear here is that there is a need for a detailed and comprehensive report of the status quo of water in this municipality. At the moment, there is no detailed comprehensive report from which we can make a plan that is workable to resolve the water scarcity here.
“The municipality does not have a proper billing and collecting system. I am making an effort to provide leadership to the sector and I am succeeding. How do we want one day to correct the situation if we do not have a report? Water is right, water is life and we sound like people who are just earning salaries and do not know what we are doing.
“We are going to work very hard with the shortest possible time to develop a complete report. When I come into this area with the President, I want to tell him about the water resource in the area.
“I should be taking over for intervention, but the district deserves Section 63 intervention. So the district municipality must know that I will place it under Section 63 should I find that there are no detailed reports for all other local municipalities under it. We are going to work on a plan for water resources because the town relies on underground water,” Mchunu said.
The minister directed a forum that includes local businesses to assume an oversight role over water projects in Ditsobotla.
“The municipality, businesses, and the community must be represented in this forum. The forum must be formally constitutionalised so that we know all members of the forum.
“The members must declare their interests, which are water and sanitation and not politics. We don’t want squabbles there, we just want progress. The forum can come and brief the municipal council to keep them up to date from time to time.
“The forum must also look for funding from corporate companies for water resources. Then start working on plans to bring water to the people. All this must start this year and be completed. I will also demand reports from the forum. This forum will also play an oversight on the projects to ensure that there are no acts of corruption that result in projects being abandoned. I can’t fight corruption alone while I’m in Pretoria,” he said.
A representative of the business people from NWK, Johan Bezuidenhout welcomed Mchunu’s intervention and said he was impressed with the Minister.
“There is really a lot of work that needs to be done and we as the business people are really concerned about this situation. This municipality has had water challenges for over 11 years now. After hearing a lot of promises that were never fulfilled in the past. This one sounds like a genuine plan of action,” said Bezuidenhout.
