ZWELISHA – Following numerous complaints by members of the public, Sembcorp Silulumanzi has sent a stern warning to its water-tanker drivers not to sell the water to residents.
The company also maintains a strict in-house policy of zero-tolerance concerning corruption.
This comes after there have been a number of complaints about drivers who were allegedly selling it to the members of the community.
Information at this paper’s disposal indicates that the water is sold to members at R100 per JoJo tank.
Head of communications at Sembcorp Silulumanzi, Mr Richmond Jele, confirmed that water-tanker drivers have faced disciplinary action for selling water.
Jele said his company strived for excellence and would not tolerate corruption.
He told this paper that it had received such complaints and had suspended some drivers pending disciplinary hearings.
A problem however arises when it is time for members of the public to testify. They did not arrive at the hearing, which made it difficult to prosecute the alleged perpetrators.
With regard to the recent incident where a water tanker was spotted at a certain household, Jele said they had investigated the matter.
“We did our investigation and we discovered that the truck in question went to that household to fill their JoJo tanks because the family was preparing for a funeral.
“We normally offer this free service to our communities whenever there is bereavement because we understand that they need plenty of water during this period,” he explained.
Jele went on to urge community members to report any corrupt activities to its offices.