The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Council has officially approved the National Department of Water and Sanitation's water crisis intervention plan for the Metro in the hope of averting day zero.
The item was thoroughly debated during a virtual special council meeting on Tuesday which was attended by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu.
He addressed Council on his department's plans to prevent taps from running dry in the city.
Part of the plan includes the urgent drilling of boreholes, pumping water from the east side of the Metro to the west and using floatation pumps in certain dams in the hope of extracting more water.
The item before Council also approved the appointment of water and sanitation production engineer Tlhologelo Mogoatlhe as the interim infrastructure and engineering executive director.
Mchunu implored councillors to work together and with the department to ensure that there is water for residents even if dams run dry.
He said access to water is a Constitutional right.
"It's a huge responsibility to have in your hands somebody's life depending on what your hands are doing or what your hands are not doing," he said."
"This situation is now confronting us in the Nelson Mandela Municipality" he added.
He said his department realized during community visits that there is anxiety among residents about the water crisis.
Mchunu implored council to focus on this as well and to make decisions that will avert day zero.
One of the topics which Council debated was a recommendation for Executive Mayor Eugene Johnson to be delegated sole authority to approve Drought Budget Amendments and that such amendments then be reported to the next meeting.
This item raised grave concerns with most political parties including the DA, Abantu Intergirty Movement (AIM), Defenders Of The People (DOP) and Freedom Front Plus.
The DA's Councillor, Andre van der Westhuizen, welcomed the intervention by the Minister but rejected the recommendation and moved that a multi-party drought budget committee be stablished.
Van der Westhuizen added that the DA was of the view that it is illegal to delegate budget amendments to Mayor Johnson.
Freedom Front Plus councillor, Bill Harington, also rejected this recommendation adding that it was very dangerous for the Mayor to be delegated drought budget authority as it leaves the door open for unauthorised and excessive funding without the approval of Council.
"The law stipulates that the Council is the highest authority and funding can only be ratified by Council.
Therefore the FF Plus will propose and claim that any drought budget amendments must be approved by the Council and not just the Mayor alone," Harrington added.
Following the pushback from political parties and in the spirit of unity, Mayor Johnson conceded and amended the recommendation which would allow for a multi-party oversight committee to be established.
