Giyani water reticulation project at risk of stalling

This comes after the community accused the Greater Giyani Municipality ward councillor, Odas Maswanganyi, of employing his own people in a project meant to benefit the local community. According to statements made at the meeting, only thirteen people were publicly employed by the project out of the 46 that are currently working on the project. This prompted the community to demand to know how the other 33 workers were employed. The second complaint was that Maswanganyi ordered that the project’s site office to be at his own premises.

Thirdly, he was accused of selecting his own PSC and not involving the local traditional leadership and thus deviating from the normal process. Maswanganyi responded to all allegations against him, saying the 33 additional workers that were added to the employment list were volunteers at the local cemetery. “I felt it was necessary to prioritise them as they were already doing good work for all of us who have relatives buried at that graveyard. I also added two workers from the policing forum and one person living with a disability,” he explained.

“When it comes to the site office, we went to all sites suggested by the community, but the contractor said they were not suitable for his needs. In the end, I gave him my place to use as a site office, free of charge. I’m not benefitting from the arrangement,” he said. On the issue of hiring a PSC as disputed by local traditional leaders who were not involved in the process, Maswanganyi explained that all procedures were followed and all members from the three headmen in the village were invited. However, two of the traditional leaders decided not to attend.

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After many deliberations, the meeting was abandoned without a solution. This is a threat to the project because it cannot continue without a PSC. Another meeting has to be convened as soon as possible for its election, but this looks unlikely as it is hampered by the current disagreement between some traditional leaders and Maswanganyi. Asked if there were any other possible interventions from the municipality in a situation where the ward councillor fails to reach a common ground with the local traditional leadership, the municipal spokesperson, Steve Mavunda, said the next option was to ask the municipal speaker to mediate the matter.

“We normally encourage ward councillors to work together with the community as well as traditional leadership and ensure that there is transparency in whatever they do. In the case where for some reason, there are differences, the office of the speaker would intervene and ensure that there is a good working relationship between the councillor, the community, and the traditional leadership,” he said.