DURBAN - The Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu has been accused of meddling in the day to day running of Amatola Water in the Eastern Cape, by purging the current staff and reinstating board members who were fired by his predecessor, Lindiwe Sisulu over wrongdoing.
Union sources and officials within Amatola Water have accused Mchunu of ignoring a forensic investigation report which was commissioned and actioned by the former minister.
Among the findings which Sisulu based her decisions on were: “instances of conflict of interest between Amatola Water officials and/or relatives of officials and/ or business associates and suppliers at Amatola Water.”
The SA Municipal Workers Union in the Amatola region claimed Mchunu’s actions raised suspicions of “political factionalism” within the ANC.
Just a week after Mchunu reinstated Buhle Tonise as acting deputy chairperson, Tabisa Wana and reappointed Abraham Le Roux as members of the Amatola Water Board, he has asked two board members to explain why they should not be terminated from the board.
During an interview with the Daily News on October 26, 2021, Mchunu confirmed that he has indeed written to two board members.
“We wrote to two people to ask them why they shouldn’t be terminated, because their getting into the board was not procedural,” Mchunu said.
He added that he received a report during a full sitting of the board.
“Among other issues were that two members of the board were appointed without following due processes.
“One of the board members had not attended a single meeting since his appointment. The reason given was that an invitation for a meeting had never been extended to him.”
On the reinstatement of the board members fingered in the investigation report which found them guilty of misconduct Mchunu said this was purely legal.
“One of the board members who was removed had taken the matter to court. When I was supposed to respond, I was advised by legal services to reinstate the members, as the case had no legs to stand on. This is purely based on legal advice,” Mchunu said.
Asked why the legal services gave him a different legal opinion from what was provided to Sisulu, he said that he had spoken to legal services and his special adviser.
Luthando Juju, Samwu regional secretary at the Amathole District, said they were astonished by Mchunu’s decision to re-appoint the board members.
“We are deeply disturbed that Mchunu has reinstated these board members, ignoring the issues that we raised with the previous minister (Lindiwe Sisulu).”.
He added that their suspicion was that Mchunu’s decision was politically motivated to shield certain ‘powerful’ individuals.
“Why is it a problem to take action against people who are fingered in the report?” Juju asked.
On April 29, 2021, Juju wrote to Sisulu, raising the alarm on what was happening in Amatola Water.
“We have observed with shock that the board members are appointing executive managers without a permanent CEO leading the process. The appointment of executive directors without the CEO poses a risk of stability at executive management level. It is for this reason that we are submitting that the whole process of appointing directors must be preceded by the appointment of the CEO,” Juju wrote.
Mchunu said he was closing in on all outstanding matters, in order to restore stability to the Amatola Water Board, so that the focus would be on supplying water to the people of the Eastern Cape.
“There can be no stable board when there are controversial, outstanding issues. When I first got to the office, I received three lever arch files on the Amatola Water Board matter. And I also had a meeting with all the board members, where serious issues were raised,” Mchunu said.
Among the allegations was that board members were not vetted, and thus did not have security clearances.
Mchunu said they had issued an instruction to all board members, not just in Amatola, to subject themselves to a vetting process.
“We are in the process of vetting everyone. One of the issues brought to my attention was that members who were terminated were not vetted.”
Previously, Amatola Water Board acting chairperson Zamikhaya Xhalisa said Le Roux had been reappointed and Wana and Tonise reinstated.
Xhalisa had a meeting with the minister over the weekend where he was briefed, this was also confirmed by the minister.
“I was invited to a meeting with the minister, where I will be briefed,” Xhalisa said.
When contacted for comment on Wednesday, Xhalisa requested that all questions be directed to the Department of Water and Sanitation.
To comment on this story send a WhatsApp message to our BackChat column on 071 485 7995
Daily News