DURBAN - WATER boards should provide quarterly reports so that governance challenges can be identified early and resolved quickly, water and sanitation portfolio committee chairperson Robert Mashego said yesterday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a visit by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and his deputy, David Mahlobo, in KwaZulu-Natal as part of a stakeholder engagement meeting.
The minister and his deputy visited uMkhanyakude and Richards Bay on Monday and yesterday, just a week after one of KZN’s water entities, Mhlathuze Water, announced that it was placing on special leave its two top executives, chief executive Mthokozisi Duze and chief financial officer Babongile Mnyandu. This pending an investigation into allegations received by the organisation.
The board had stressed that placing the duo on special leave did not imply that they had done anything wrong, but the move was aimed at allowing the organisation space and time to test the allegations made against them.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Mashego said they were concerned about developments in some water entities.
“We cannot paint all of them with the same brush, but it is true that there have been developments in some entities that have left a lot to be desired and that will always be a source of concern to us as the committee, because we know their importance in the provision of water,” Mashego said.
He said that in a recent meeting with Mchunu and Mahlobo, the committee had also appealed for regular reporting about the entities and their boards.
“We believe that quarterly reporting will enable the committee to play its oversight role and limit any damage or rot that often takes place because an entity reports and accounts just once a year,” said the chairperson.
He expressed the committee’s confidence that regular accounting would soon be a culture among water entities.
Mchunu’s spokesperson, Kamogelo
Mogotsi, confirmed that the minister was aware about developments at Mhlathuze Water. “The matter has been brought to the minister’s attention and is being attended to by the Water Board while keeping the ministry updated,” she said yesterday.
Mhlathuze Water plays a significant role in water provision by ensuring Zululand and uMkhanyakude residents and businesses get a stable supply of water.
There have been concerns raised from different quarters, including political circles, over how the province’s two main water entities Umgeni Water and uMhlathuze Water were governed.
In a recent statement the South African Communist Party (SACP) expressed its desire to meet with Mchunu, stressing that it was important to ensure that the entities were not allowed to collapse because of bad governance.
SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu recently said the developments at the water entity were worrying and said there were “signs of factional battles playing themselves out in this public entity”.
THE MERCURY