Govan Mbeki residents experienced the worst water supply problems ever over the past weeks. Several areas are still struggling with water. Evander, which never had problems, are now experiencing water shortages daily and most of Bethal is still without water or a reliable water supply.
At each enquiry regarding the real cause of the shortages, GMM always blames Rand Water (RW), stating that RW is not pumping due to high demands. On the question of payment, GMM, and in particular the Executive Mayor, Councilor N Zuma, led everyone to believe that the payment is according to agreements that GMM and RW have reached and that GMM payments are not impacting Rand Water’s water supply. This is allegedly a lie.
It seems that everyone’s fears have been proven right. Rand Water is only supplying 50% of the contractual water to GMM!
Govan Mbeki Municipality owes Rand Water a staggering R851 200 299,00 as of the end of October 2024. While being billed R32 095 142,84 and charged R7 626 717,70, GMM could only manage to pay Rand Water R24 233 740,70.
A lot of money is spent on improving roads with huge publicity and has started before the elections. GMM also continues to spend money on festivals and sports events for the officials, all being justified by the political leadership of the municipality. Where is all this money coming from and why is it not spent on paying for bulk purchases?
The Bulletin asked the DA about this.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) released the following statement regarding the RW situation:
The DA in Govan Mbeki is appalled to learn that the municipality misled the public about the cause of the water shortages across the municipality.
The municipality lied to residents, claiming that high demand or infrastructure challenges caused the recent water shut-offs. There must be harsh and urgent consequences for this. The DA calls for real action against the persons involved in this lie.
During a CoGTA portfolio meeting that took place on Thursday, MEC Speedy Mashilo revealed that due to the municipality’s debt to Rand Water exceeding R800 million, Rand Water imposed a 50% water throttling on Govan Mbeki. This has exposed Govan Mbeki’s lies.
“The throttling by Rand Water, in turn, caused widespread water shortages throughout the town, and was not linked to high demand or infrastructure challenges,” said Councillor Fiona Pelman to the Bulletin.
Ranked among the top defaulting municipalities across the country by Rand Water, the municipality assured the public that a payment plan would be arranged to service this debt timeously but the municipality failed to manage its finances and make regular payments to Rand Water.
This deliberate misinformation spread by the ANC administration demonstrates their disregard for transparency and accountability. The municipality’s continuous failure to manage its Rand Water debt calls for a financial review of the municipality’s spending, and priorities.
“The DA will fight for the rights of residents and will continue to push for the improvements needed to secure reliable access to water for all,” said Pelman
The DA will also escalate this lie to the Gert Sibande District Municipality, most importantly so that it intervenes in Govan Mbeki, to formulate a solid repayment plan with Rand Water and a strategy to improve revenue collection in Govan Mbeki.
