Herald reporting causes a stink at water crisis meeting

Herald reporter, Sine Thwala, was told to leave the water crisis meeting in Ulundi on Friday.

Gibson Gumede from the Department of Water and Sanitation expressed uneasiness about media presence at the meetings, and Ms Thwala was asked to leave after AbaQulusi Technical Services director, Vasan Chetty’s, indignant outburst regarding media being allowed to attend.

Mr Chetty arrived at the meeting carrying a copy of the most recent edition of the Vryheid Herald newspaper, and became increasingly worked up, claiming that the allegations that there were faeces in the Klipfontein dam were not true. However, a water sample handed to a laboratory for testing proved that there was, without a doubt, faecal matter in the dam.

Despite the fact that Abaqulusi mayor, Patience Khaba, indicated that all water crisis meetings would remain open to the public, as the community needed to work together to ensure continued water supply, officials insisted that the media was not welcome.

They said it was not up to the mayor of Abaqulusi, to decide who attended the meetings.

Mr Gumede indicated that the Herald’s reporting made the technical team, “look bad,” and conceded that discussions regarding the water crisis would take place in private from now on.

“What the media needs to know will be communicated to them,” he said.

Despite this turn of events, the Vryheid Herald remains committed to bringing its readers accurate and up-to-date information regarding the water crisis.

Click on this link to read the story that had municipal officials hot under the collar.