Take water services away from VDM

Pressure is mounting on the government to remove the function of the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) to deliver water and sanitation services and rather make this the responsibility of local municipalities.

On Thursday, 24 October, a delegation from the select committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation visited the Makhado Municipality. The committee is headed by Mr Thamsanqa Dodovu. The purpose of the visit was to interact with internal and external stakeholders of the municipalities. The committee also needs to monitor the progress on the audit-outcome action plans developed by the district and local municipalities in respect of the 2017/18 municipal audits.

“There is an outcry that the Vhembe municipality is not doing much on water and sanitation issues in the province. I will take this matter up with the minister. I recommend that municipalities should have their own water authorities,” Dodovu said.

The issue of poor water provision to large parts of the Makhado Municipality caused a lot of tension the past month. Two weeks ago, residents of Tshikota took to the streets, barricading roads to highlight the problems they experience. Apart from water problems in town, large parts of Sinthumule and Kutama also battle with poor or non-existent water services.

Members of the select committee wanted to know how the Makhado Municipality intended to fix the water issue and how they could assist.

“We would like to have our own water authority, because if any water problems arise, residents visit us,” said Mr Freddy Tshivhengwa, municipal manager of the Makhado Municipality. He argued that it would be better if the responsibility for providing water and sanitation services reverted back to the local municipality.

Tshivhengwa also highlighted some of the problems that they experience, among others the vandalization of infrastructure. He said that even though boreholes had been drilled around the Makhado area, residents vandalised the structures. He also called on the relevant authorities to speed up of the construction of the pipelines from the Nandoni dam, because this would bring relief to many areas.

Mr Pat Hlungwani from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) supported the transfer of functions from the VDM to Makhado. He said that his association was in the process of lobbying on behalf of the Makhado Municipality that it should have its own water authority.

Date:03 November 2019

By: Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

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