By Ntombekhaya Busuku and Gcina Ntsaluba
Makana Local Municipality has lost another senior manager for infrastructure services, with the secondment of acting Director of Infrastructure, Makhaya Dungu’s term having come to an end.
This was confirmed by the municipality this week: “Mr Dungu did not resign. He was seconded to Makana for a limited period, which eventually came to an end,” said Anele Mjekula, municipality communications manager.
According to Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor Geoff Embling, Makana Municipality has had four directors or acting directors of infrastructure and three managers/acting managers of water.
“This is worrying because it takes a lot of time and effort to learn about Makana’s vast infrastructure network, and there is little remaining institutional memory left within the municipality,” he said.
Embling said after the water crisis and public outcry in 2024, members of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) visited Makhanda and appointed Reinhardt Brittnell and Dungu to the Makana infrastructure department.
“Mr Brittnell was subsequently threatened, and he left, and now Mr Dungu has left too,” he said.
Embling also said that the municipal administration had lost the maps of underground cables, water pipes, valves, etc., which is why contractors keep on breaking infrastructure when they dig holes.
“At the 26 March Infrastructure Portfolio meeting, there was no action sheet in the agenda, which relates to actions taken by each department since the last meeting,” he said
Grocott’s Mail has previously reported that ageing infrastructure was behind the constant water outages plaguing Makana residents, and the municipality needs money and resources to replace nearly 500km of old water pipes.
In 2020, during COVID-19, the National Treasury granted Makana an additional R1.6 million to help control the spread of the virus, and R300 000 of this was allocated to installing communal taps in Nkanini. An infrastructure agenda from January 2022 stated that a contractor was appointed, equipment was bought, and R63 189 of the R300 000 was spent on installing 14 communal taps.
“Apparently, the managers submitted their reports, but the administrators at the municipality did not include them in the agenda and neither did the administrators include written questions from the DA, submitted to the City Hall Registry, asking when the municipality plans to complete the installation of communal taps in Nkanini township.
“However, no subsequent work has been done since then, and there are only a few working communal taps in Nkanini service hundreds of households. A common sight when visiting Nkanini is people walking around carrying big water bottles,” he commented.
