Water and Sanitation Committee Briefed by Minister on Kgetlengrivier and Media Reports

The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation was briefed by the Department of Water and Sanitation. The department, led by Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, briefed the Committee on the Kgetlengrivier and media reports about the department that have been in the public domain.

Briefing the Committee, Ms Mokonyane retracted the announcement made by officials to the Committee on 17 February 2017 on funding for drought interventions in the Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality, stating that the Construction Unit will be undertaking the construction work in the Kgetleng Local Municipality.

“I wish to state that in the next few days I will issue a directive to Magalies Water Board (the implementing agent), in a bid to address the challenges in the Kgetlengrivier Municipality,” said Minister Mokonyane.

The Committee raised a concern about the under-expenditure of the department that has been taking place in the past three years. During the presentation, Minister Mokonyane mentioned that cuts by National Treasury have been drastic for the department. The Committee was of the view that the department needs to take responsibility for the under-expenditure, hence the budget cuts by National Treasury. The Committee said National Treasury cannot be blamed for budget cuts when there has been a failure by the department in spending its allocated budget.

Members of the Committee were of the view that unhealthy expenditure patterns exist within the department. The Committee wanted to know what is the department planning to do to curb under-expenditure and enhance fiscal discipline within the department.

The Committee questioned the involvement of Mr Luvo Makhanya, the person who, according to media reports, is working for the department and is involved and interferes in tender allocations. Minister Mokonyane refuted the claims and allegations. She urged members of the Committee to provide proof and evidence of the allegations that have been in the media relating to contractors and people’s involvement who are not in the employment of the department.

The Committee expressed concern about the R9.2bn owed to water trading entities. The Committee was of the view that this is a high risk, which suggests that water will not be supplied to communities just like Eskom has cut electricity from certain areas. Members of the Committee inquired what is being done to address the problem.

The Committee indicated that measures need to be put in place to address unpaid invoices. The Committee was of the view that this is an old story and we (the Committee) cannot be informed of the same problem. The department has unpaid invoices amounting to R682m, of which R207m is a disputed invoice which will not be paid, and only R475m is for legitimate invoices received.

The Committee wanted to know how the department plans to address projects that have not been completed on time and those that will incur escalation costs. The Committee also wanted to know what mechanisms are put in place to deal with escalation of costs.

Responding to the questions and concerns by the Committee, Minister Mokonyane said she is concerned about the media reports and allegations that have been levelled against the department. She indicated that a team has been established to verify and investigate the matters that have been in the public domain.

Committee Chairperson, Mr Mlungisi Johnson, said: “We came here to deal with specific issues and we have not done that, what is happening is that we are dealing with the issues of annual reports, with the exception of a few debt collections.”

“The danger of following media reports without being verified, a point that has been made is that the department has been called names, it is said to be corrupt and engaged in theft. Out of this session we do not find any theft or any corruption, we had an opportunity for the Minister to talk about these issues,” said Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson said the Committee will in future have an opportunity to deal with other investigations that are being conducted at an appropriate time. Investigations taking place are by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Public Protector will be brought to the Committee.

“We hope the issues are being laid to rest up until the reports by SIU and Public Protector are concluded,” said Mr Johnson.

Source: Parliament of the Republic of South Africa

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