Giyani Bulk Water Project: ActionSA threatens legal action against government

ActionSA said it will pursue legal action against the department of water and sanitation if Minister Senzo Mchunu fails to respond to its letter and complete the R4.5 billion Giyani water project which started in 2014.

Giyani Bulk Water Project

“We are optimistic that, should it get to this point, the courts will be on our side and that of the people of Giyani. Should Minister Mchunu’s department fail to abide by a court-mandated deadline to complete the project, then the minister and officials in his department must be held in contempt of court and thrown in jail,” said the party’s president Herman Mashaba in a statement on Monday.

Zuma brainchild

The Giyani Bulk Water Project is the brainchild of former president Jacob Zuma and was commissioned by former water and sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

It was first budgeted at R502 million, which later escalated to R2.2 billion, then R3.5 billion, and now R4.5 billion.

Work started on the project in August 2014 and was supposed to be completed by August 2017.

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55 villages affected

ActionSA said it was unfortunate that 55 villages in Limpopo continued to live without water, especially in the scorching heat South Africa is currently experiencing.

“ActionSA’s legal team will write to water and sanitation minister, Senzo Mchunu, and his department to complete the Giyani Bulk Water Project in Limpopo where over R4 billion has been spent yet taps continue to run dry.

“If the minister fails to respond to the letter and complete the long-awaited project, ActionSA will approach the courts to ensure that the stalled water project is completed, and the community is no longer held hostage by plundering and incompetence at the water and sanitation department,” said Mashaba.

Completion date

Mashaba also stated during a visit to the site of the water project that Mchunu initially told the public that the project would be completed in August 2022, then September 2022. The date has now been moved to March 2023.

“He also promised officials found complicit in allowing the project to balloon from R500 million to over R4 billion would be prosecuted, but no action has yet been taken.

“It is simply unacceptable for the minister to tell the people of Giyani every month that they have longer to wait. His dilatory tactics make a mockery of the dignity of the people of Giyani, and further demonstrates wanton disregard of the human rights to which they are entitled,” he said. 

Mashaba said ActionSA would continue to pressure the government to provide its people with basic services.

READ MORE: Giyani Bulk Water project needs R4.5bn for completion