Mathabatha is not the right man to address Human Rights Day – opposition

Limpopo premier Stan Mathabatha has allegedly ditched the protracted R4.5 billion Giyani bulk water project, saying the project was not his direct responsibility.

Mathabatha said this during an SABC television interview on Tuesday following his delivery of the State of the Province Address (Sopa) last month. 

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Mathabatha, who will be retiring from domestic politics and government work after the 29 May national and provincial elections, painted a glittering picture of how he changed the Limpopo provincial administration since he was head-hunted by former President Jacob Zuma in 2013.

At the time, the province was on the brink of collapse.

Refuses to take responsibility

Brouhaha ensued after the 67-year old politician, who is also the provincial ANC chair, refused to be blamed for the delays in the completion of the Presidential Giyani bulk water project in the Mopani district municipality.

The project commenced in 2014 but it’s completion date has been postponed more than eight times, forcing the people of Giyani to continue drinking water from wells, rivers and fountains, 10 years after its inception.

“That project was marred by a number of problems, hence the Hawks and the special investigating unit (SIU) are busy investigating a number of people.. But thanks to minister Senzo Mchunu, the project has been resuscitated.

“We were told that 33 of the villages would be getting water in a period of two months,” he said, responding to a question on how many of the intended 55 villages were currently getting fresh water from the project. 

But what kicked the back of the camel was when the premier said “but remember, provincial government do not have authority in the provision of water. The authority of water is with the local and national government”. He was responding to a question on why the project was not yet complete. 

After the interview, many did not hesitate to judge him. 

“According to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), not one in Limpopo municipality complies with Section 27 of the Constitution or Section 3 of the Water Services Act. The premier has a monitoring and oversight role to play on water related matters in the province,” said the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday. 

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Mathabatha is scheduled to address the Human Rights Month Celebration in his home region of Sekhukhune on Thursday.

The Bolsheviks political party, led by secretary general, Seun Mogotji, escalated the matter of the importance of respecting human rights. Mogotji accused Mathabatha of failing to respect human rights, adding that the premier was not the right person to address the event. 

“How ironic is that Mathabatha will be addressing a human rights day rally in Fetakgomo Tubatse on Thursday when he is in fact the chief protagonist of human rights abuse in Limpopo,” said Mogotji.

“His two terms in office have brought nothing but hardship for our people – talk about 10 wasted years.

“When the people wanted access to houses with dignity during covid-19, he gave the people of Talane hostel in Tzaneen those overpriced shacks.”

According to him they deserved more than shacks, 30 years after democracy.

“Communities are still sharing dirty contaminated water with domestic livestock right under his nose. Their right to access clean drinking water has been denied and instead he says it was not his responsibility to provide water.

“Some schools in Limpopo are still using pit toilets. What happened to the right to adequate sanitation,” he asked.

Mathabatha defended

In response, Limpopo provincial government spokesperson, Ndavhe Ramakuela said Premier Mathabatha certainly has more right to speak about Human Rights due to his actions than merely speaking from benches. 

“Mathabatha has accepted collective responsibility for the Giyani water project despite that the funds and project management are not the provincial responsiblity. He made an indication that due to working with Giyani municipality and the department of water and sanitation, up to 34 villages would have started receiving water from the reticulation project by April 2024. 

“For over a month now raw water has been flowing from Nandoni to Nsami Dam, giving it necessary power to clean the water using its 22 megalitre water treatment plant which is in the pipeline of being upgraded to service the 55 villages needing water,” said Ramakuela.

He added Mathabatha had indicated that the Talane project has been attended to and individuals responsible for its mishap have been brought to book.

“The province has gone on to perform well in human settlements and it has received an additional R250 million from the Western Cape that it could not use to deal with accreditation there. Flogging a dead horse would not certainly bring life political parties that have lost opposition status and are wanting to claw back,” he said.