SA'S WATERGATE: Corruption and fraud sends South Africans down the drain

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Poorly maintained infrastructure — much of it more than 100 years old — dysfunctional wastewater treatment plants, fraud, corruption and collapse of local governance mean taps in many towns and villages have either run dry or have undrinkable water.

– specifically connected to the Giyani Bulk Water Project – assisted in paving the way for the eventual suspension of CEO Phineas Legodi and ultimately his facing criminal charges.

In the leaked documents made available to DM168 are details of every DWS transaction over a 10-year period relating to the Limpopo project and others, laying bare what Henderson describes as apparent “rampant corruption” in the department.Dead and rotting fish greeted canoeists at Johannesburg’sWemmer Pan Dam in February 2020, according to Wemmer Pan Aquatic Clubs chairperson Rod Mackinnon.

“We can link the disappearance of funds from Emfuleni Local Municipality to the sewage running through houses and streets and the measured poor quality of the Rietspruit, the Klip and the Vaal rivers,” says Michael Gaade, a committee member with Save the Vaal Environment . This can be compared with the E. coli count “crisis” in Knysna, where, at their upper limit, counts of 26,000 per 100ml have been recorded flowing into the lagoon from the densely populated areas above via the Bongani stream.

The fact that the HRC had to direct the department to intervene is an illustration of just how bad things have gotten in the region. Tyala also spoke of an eight-year-old child who was killed after playing with an exposed, illegal electricity connection lying next to the river. Anecdotes from around the country confirm that Tyala’s experiences are not unique.

An engineer with 40 years of experience in water and sewage infrastructure in the private and public sectors, Le Roy told News24 in September last year that “infrastructure in most parts of the country is close to 100 years old”. Section 63 investigations determine whether it is necessary for direct provincial or national intervention and whether there are grounds for placing an entity under administration. The Amatola Water Board, which was dissolved last week, is a refreshing case in point.Who the DWS chooses to act against, as with the 65 senior department officials implicated in irregular expenditure, and if such decisions are related to ANC factional battles, is a separate-yet-connected matter.

Liefferink refers to the intervention plan for the Emfuleni Local Municipality, which, she says, primarily addresses procurement and local labour employment opportunities and has a limited focus on environmental challenges.

 

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