Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) is preparing complaints to the public protector and Parliament's watchdog public accounts committee in light of charges filed against an adviser to Water Affairs and Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu by two suspended waterboard executives.
The DA's spokesperson for water affairs, Emma Powell, said the complaints should be filed on Friday.
This comes after it emerged that the CEOs of the Amatola and Lepelle waterboards have both brought criminal charges against Sisulu's adviser, Mphumzi Mdekazi.
The charges relate to improper interference in the procurement processes of the two boards.
"The DA can now confirm that both CEOs have laid criminal charges against ministerial adviser Mphumzi Mdekazi, potentially acting on behalf or at the behest of the minister or senior officials. The CEOs have further both served legal notices on the minister herself," Powell said.
She said the supporting affidavits submitted by both CEOs were drafted in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and both alleged political meddling by Mdekazi.
"The respective CEOs are both of the view that they are being targeted because they have acted to prevent attempts by the ministry to appoint a politically connected company specialising in sand water abstraction, known as Empowering Water Solutions (EWS), to carry out drought relief programmes."
Powell said the charges filed by the waterboard executives constituted "an alternative narrative" to Sisulu's version of events that prompted her to appoint advocate Terry Motau this week to investigate fraud and corruption in her department, with priority given to dealings at the water boards.
Powell said Lepelle Northern Water CEO Phineas Legodi was introduced to a director of EWS by Mdekazi and that Legodi then said he would invite EWS, along with owners of other alternative technologies, to make a presentation to the Water Research Commission.
Legodi applied to the National Treasury for permission to deviate from normal procurement processes after a directive from the minister's office instructed the board to conduct a trial using EWS as the preferred bidder. National Treasury agreed, Powell said.
But in October last year, the minister informed the board that she had also directly instructed EWS to implement emergency procedures to provide water to certain villages in Limpopo and that she had asked the chief procurement authority to give the green light for the company to provide water to the board.
Legodi submits in the documentation that he objected, citing the weak financial position of the board.
About a fortnight later, on November 15, Sisulu launched an investigation into the financial position of the board. It was to be carried out by a firm called ORCA.
In April this year, the probe was extended to include lifestyle audits of Legodi, as well as other executives at the Lepelle board.
Legodi submitted an affidavit to the investigators, setting out his concerns about ministerial interference. He was suspended last week.
Powell said similar events unfolded at Amatola Water in the Eastern Cape, with Mdekazi allegedly attempting to interfere in procurement to ensure the board awarded EWS a contract for sand water abstraction.
It is alleged that during a meeting in August, Mdekazi told CEO Vuyo Zitumane he could help the board secure funding from the National Treasury for projects and made a number of blatantly political remarks.
These allegedly included calling for support from the province for a potential bid by Sisulu to become leader of the ANC in 2022, having failed in 2017.
Zitumane alleges that there was extensive ministerial interference in the R230 million deal, including pressure that 60% of the money be spent on sand abstractions. She said resisting this lead to her suspension on April 23, upon which she filed papers against the ministry.
Sisulu has since appointed two successive acting CEOs in the space of just more than a fortnight.
Powell said the DA would submit the papers filed by the two CEOs as supporting documents to its complaints to the public protector and the standing committee on public accounts.
The ministry declined to comment on the matter.