Durban – Lungi Mkhize has been appointed as the acting chief executive of the Umgeni Water Board until the post is permanently filled. Mkhize was the board's chief financial officer.
The move has been welcomed by Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu who commended the board and its representatives on the speedy appointment.
Sisulu held a meeting with the Umgeni Water board on Saturday after the resignation of its former CEO, Thamsanqa Basil Hlongwa, who held the position for seven years.
Sisulu said the decisiveness shown by the board was vital as Umgeni Water was a crucial role-player in the water sector.
Sisulu added that continuity and stability were important features of the water entity’s “armour”.
Umgeni Water, which has its headquarters in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, is a state-owned entity (SOE) and the largest supplier of bulk potable water in the KZN province.
Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube on Saturday assessed the environmental damage caused by an inland crude-oil spillage which occurred in the Bellair area and spread along the uMbilo River.
It is alleged that the spillage was the result of theft. The affected infrastructure belongs to the South African port and pipeline SOE Transnet.
Dube-Ncube said that in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), the level of pollution caused to the uMbilo River and Durban Harbour as a result of the spillage was declared a section 30 incident.
The MEC said they were grateful for the support of the national government under the direction of Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy.
“I wish to reiterate that we remain committed to using that Council on Climate Change to ensure the cleaning of the coastlines, beaches and the riverbanks,” Dube-Ncube said in a statement.
The MEC held a meeting with the eThekwini district mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, in early September on the launch of the Durban Climate Action Plan.
In response to the crude-oil spillage, Dube-Ncube added: “We must use this plan to deal with all oil spillage and river pollution incidents in eThekwini as a whole.”
ANA