Premier Phumulo Masualle says a complete dissolution of the Makana municipal council would not currently be justifiable, given all the efforts being put in place to correct the numerous crises it faced.
But, he has warned Makana municipality to pull up its socks and build its own capacity so that the time and money being invested by national and provincial governments in the management of its water and other crises would prove sustainable.
Masualle did not pull his punches when addressing senior municipal staff, councillors, civil society and various other stakeholders. He warned that even though Makana was an area of “great sensitivity and significance”, the level of intense support being given to it would not become a way of life.
“It can’t be like that. We have got to get out of the situation that you lean on support. Makana must stand on its own. You cannot keep going cap in hand begging for help.”
The premier was visiting the municipality to ascertain for himself the progress on various measures being put in place to address the water crisis faced by Makhanda and other towns falling under Makana municipality. Among other measures, Amatola Water has been appointed for three months to correct the failing water treatment works and other infrastructural issues.
The municipality has not only been unable to provide the quantity of water required by its citizens, but has also failed it in terms of the quality. Tap water has, at times, been found to be dangerously short of national standards.
Makhanda is also steeped in a major waste water crisis, with sewage leaking out all over suburbia. The waste water treatment works are not coping with the volumes that reach it and tons of raw sewage is finding its way into river systems.
It also faced a prolonged strike by municipal workers who refused to work without the required safety clothes and their tools of trade.
The build-up of litter in the city reached astronomical proportions despite efforts by private citizens to deal with it. The road infrastructure is also on the verge of collapse with the potholes in Makhanda becoming a national joke.
Masualle said the broke municipality was also effectively living beyond its means and all the support had to come from outside. “There has got to be a point where you find creative ways to be self-reliant.”
Makana mayor Mzukisi Mpahlwa admitted that despite a bloated organogram, the municipality faced what he termed a “capacity collapse” at a technical level.
In the face of all of this, local organisation, the Unemployed Peoples’ Movement (UPM), has launched a high court application to have the council dissolved and new elections held within three months. But Masualle says that while he had considered the “clamour” for the dissolution of council, there was so much being done to support the municipality and correct what had gone wrong that such an extreme step was simply not justified.
Municipal manager Moppo Mene set out the progress being made by Amatola Water in terms of increasing both the capacity of the water treatment plants and the quality of the water coming out of taps.
Various initiatives are being funded to the tune of millions of rands by the co-operative governance & traditional affairs, municipal infrastructure grants, drought relief, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, and National Treasury in an effort to put Makana municipality back on its feet.
But, Masualle said this was not sustainable if the municipality did not itself put in place measures not to backslide once the interventions were completed...