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By Citizen Reporter

Journalist


Service delivery issues water down ANC 107th celebrations

People on Twitter comment on where the attention of the ruling party seems to lie.


Tweeps brought up service delivery issues in the wake of the governing African National Congress’ (ANC) 107th-anniversary celebrations today and its campaign trail ahead of the party’s manifesto launch on Saturday at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban.

The issues were brought up on the social media platform on Tuesday by a user who sarcastically egged on ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and Minister of Environmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane to continue with being “busy” with the celebrations even though there was no water in Giyani.

The drought-stricken town of Giyani in Limpopo was declared a disaster area in 2009.

The Giyani Bulk Water project in Limpopo has been delayed because of protracted payment squabbles involving the contractor and the department of water and sanitation (DWS).

Dubbed the Giyani emergency intervention water project, it was initiated by former president Jacob Zuma and commissioned by Mokonyane to the tune of R502 million in 2014. But the scope of work and costs on the project later ballooned without following legal supply chain management policies.

This saw the budget of the project ballooning from R502 million to R3.5 billion. The move attracted the attention of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which probed the project due to the allegations of irregularities.

The project started in 2014, after residents told Zuma they were forced to drink water from the Giyani River, which is contaminated with waste spilling from a waste treatment plant.

One user noted that in a different country, the disastrous project in Giyani would have resulted in the dismissal or arrest of those implicated in the matter, while another claimed that in Makhado, where they grew up, there hasn’t been any running water for 15 years.

https://twitter.com/MikeClarence2/status/1082553515338330113

“Thank you Tumi, I’m from Giyani. I came back yesterday from my December holidays, this morning people were in my gate asking for water, we never sell them water we just give them for free because I understand [their] situation, I was [once] like them,” another user commented.

Another user commented on the R20 million expected to be spent on statues of ANC leaders and stalwarts as part of commemorating the party’s 107th year since its founding.

Here are more tweets below:

https://twitter.com/wizza06/status/1082593022880219136

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