By Luvuyo Mjekula
The DA in the Eastern Cape is upping the ante in its fight to stabilise the dire water and electricity situation in Makhanda.
The party’s provincial leaders told a public meeting in Makhanda this week that they would be bringing the matter to the attention of the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Retief Odendaal, the DA shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and Jane Cowley, the Frontier Constituency leader, addressed Makhanda ratepayers and businesspeople at Graham Hotel in High Street on Tuesday evening.
“We can continue to write to the Department of Water and Sanitation and we’ll probably do that. But we’ve also decided that we are actually going to apply a little bit more pressure on the officials by escalating this matter to the Public Service Commission,” said Odendaal, the former Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality mayor.
One of the PSC’s key performance areas is to undertake audits and investigations into public administration practices.
Odendaal and Cowley put forward three proposals at the public meeting on Tuesday, including approaching the PSC. The DA leaders said they were not getting responses to their letters to officials. “If we do get acknowledgments, you know, they’re very superficial. And we’re not getting the support that we need yet in order to make a tangible difference. So, we’re going to raise that issue to the Public Service Commission so that we can then apply a little bit more pressure and get the officials to at least respond to our calls and to try and assist,” Odendaal explained.
The party’s leaders also proposed the return of the expert engineer seconded to the municipality by Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Zolile Williams, but later left, allegedly after being threatened. The party leaders even suggested the possibility of getting security for the engineer. Odendaal said the engineer was capable and knew his work and there is no reason he should not be allowed to resume his duties.
Odendaal said the engineer was reportedly chased out of Makana. “He has identified, obviously certain officials, his team has identified certain officials that are stumbling blocks towards making progress. So, I think that that is going to be our first goal.”
The other proposal would see the DA leaders and their caucus soon meeting with unnamed prominent stakeholders in Makhanda and ask them to also “escalate the fight” to the Premier and the national minister.
The party said it had tried all other avenues including writing letters to provincial government and national government to no avail.
“We have written letter after letter, sent WhatsApp after WhatsApp, cornered the MEC, cornered the Premier to talk about the state of your municipality and specifically the water issues that you had.”
However, he said local residents are still sitting with a similar situation and there is no progress. “So, we decided we’re going to have to do something different,” said Odendaal.
Recently, Cowley wrote to MEC Williams calling for his intervention, again, arguing that the water and electricity situation in Makhanda had “worsened substantially over the past two months and has become untenable”.
In the letter, Cowley said: “There are still areas in the town that only have an intermittent water supply and leaks continue to affect many parts of the town. It has also become apparent that there is a criminal element within the administration that is sabotaging works where repairs have been effected.”
She asked the MEC to consider the plight of rate payers who were paying for services they were not receiving. She appealed to Williams to raise the matter with the Provincial Executive Committee and dismiss officials if necessary.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Odendaal stressed that it was time to make difficult decisions.
The DA leaders said the municipality needed to invest in maintenance and repairs, but understood that the institution has financial constraints. “But I also believe that your financial constraints aren’t of such a nature that you can’t invest in maintenance and repairs,” said Odendaal.
Residents were also given an opportunity to raise their concerns or provide advice towards solutions. One resident, a local school principal, pointed out the water crisis negatively affected schoolchildren’s dignity and self-confidence.
Local business owners also registered their grievances and how their businesses were being affected by seemingly never-ending crisis.
Meanwhile, Makana spokesperson Anele Mjekula said the municipality faces “peculiar challenges” in terms of water and sanitation, including extreme elements of vandalism associated with theft and damage for the purpose of acquiring steel.
Mjekula said ageing infrastructure leads to daily pipe bursts and water leaks, which requires repairs. He said sabotage and tampering with municipal infrastructure was also rife.
Mjekula said despite this, the municipality is experiencing relative stability in how the water supply system is operating, compared to previous periods. Three additional plumbers have been appointed and this has “immensely improved the situation especially fixing of water leaks”. The municipality is busy exploring other sources of funding over and above the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
