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The embattled Amatola Water Board, which currently services most of the Amathole and part of the Chris Hani District municipalities, could soon be tasked with covering the entire Eastern Cape, much to the Democratic Alliance's dismay.
This comes after Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu published this intention to extend the service area of the entity to cover the entire province, in the government gazette on Monday, November 14.
He said the Department had reviewed the Water Board in terms of financial sustainability, servicing areas that are not currently serviced and “institutional confusion caused by having multiple Water Boards servicing the same province”.
Another reason for the transfer and extension of the area, Mchunu said, was to “strengthen the capacity and capability of the entity”.
But the DA said the minister’s decision is ill-conceived.
The party’s shadow MEC for Cogta Vicky Knoetze said in a statement on Wednesday that the idea would push Amatola Water further down the road to collapse.
“The track record of this entity in the Eastern Cape is more than convincing enough to know that expanding the service area of Amatola Water to the entire province will lead to an unmitigated disaster for water security,” said Knoetze.
“The DA in the Eastern Cape will lodge our objection to this ill-conceived idea.
“Water is our most important natural resource and it is just too precious to leave in the hands of Amatola Water.”
Knoetze also said not only is the Special Investigating Unit probing allegations of corruption and maladministration, but Amatola Water staff also went on strike in August, leaving thousands of Buffalo City residents without water for weeks on end.
“All interested persons are invited to comment in writing on the extension of the service area of Amatola Water to cover the entire Eastern Cape,” the notice reads.
The comments will be accepted for a period of 60 days from the publication of the notice.
