Municipal truck drivers who are allegedly selling water for R800 a tank to needy Peddie residents are in for a surprise.
Water and sanitation deputy minister Pam Tshwete told residents and councillors to record the “thieves” using their cellphones, as what they are doing is illegal.
There are allegations doing the rounds in Ngqushwa that truck drivers delivering the resource to water-scarce hinterland villages sell the water in those areas.
Tshwete visited the Ngqushwa municipal council on Friday after whistle-blowers alerted her office about the alleged scam.
She met councillors, the presidential infrastructure co-ordinating commission, Amatola Water, Amathole district municipality (ADM), the national department of co-operative governance & traditional affairs and the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA on Friday.
Tshwete said they had learnt that some of the truck drivers meant to deliver the water free of charge to villagers were allegedly also liable for vandalising water infrastructure.
Municipal taps have run dry for more than five years now in KwaTebha, Hlosini, Mqwashini, Rura, Horton and Gwabeni, among other villages.
Tshwete said problems faced by the municipality included aging boreholes, water shortages, dysfunctional windmills and dams that have sandy bases as a result of not being used and cleaned.
Moreover, she said, the area also has a problem of privatised dams, “which only assist white people”.
Tshwete added she was aware of allegations that truck drivers, contracted to the municipality, sabotaged the water infrastructure so they could secure contracts.
Ngqushwa mayor Mnikelo Siwisa, tabling his situational analysis report, said wards 1 to 12 had rolling water shortages.
He said all seven boreholes in ward 1 were dysfunctional.
Delivering the ADM’s status report, municipal manager Thandekile Mnyimba said the Amatola Water Board was taking the municipality to court due to a historical debt of R133m.
Some of the challenges he highlighted included:
Illegal water connections in most villages in Ngqushwa;
Not enough water to accommodate illegal connections; and
The package plant for waste was working at maximum capacity and not coping.
He referred to several water projects that were in the pipeline, but Tshwete shot these down as Mnyimba could not provide timelines.
Nkosi Sizakele Ngwekazi stressed the importance of improved communication between ADM and residents.
ADM is one of the regions that have been severely affected by the drought that has persisted since 2015. As a result, livestock have been killed while villagers have gone weeks without water...