Organised business has demanded that State bodies stop using paying communities and businesses as hostages after it emerged this week that a partial Rand Water bulk blockade had caused a crippling water shortage in Vanderbijlpark.
Emergency talks took place at top level this week between the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) and Rand Water to resolve the crippling CW7 water shortage – caused by Rand Water reducing water pressure to ELM for non-payment.
Despaired residents, schools and businesses earlier this week waited in vain for promised water tankers and other relief as a potential humanitarian and health crisis exploded at time of publication.
“This was an artificial shortage caused by uncaring official attitudes on behalf of both Rand Water and ELM – it could have been avoided had they pro-actively coordinated their responses,” said Klippies Kritzinger, CEO of the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC).
It was “utterly immoral” and ultimately counter-productive for Rand Water to use paying residents and businesses as hostages against ELM in order to take revenge for non-payment by the municipality, said Kritzinger.
“ELM itself must also take responsibility for this state of affairs as it is not meeting its payment obligations to Rand Water and this situation is a direct result of gross financial mismanagement by CFO Andile Dyakala who remains unsuspended,” said Kritzinger.
ELM Municipal Manager Lucky Leseane confirmed he had met with Rand Water executives this week and that the water supply problem should be resolved on Tuesday.
Leseane said ELM was committed to adhering to its payment agreement with Rand Water and had paid R96 million to the bulk supplier at the end of February in an attempt to reach current payment status.
“We are admittedly not there yet because our bank accounts are still attached on the BXCSA default judgment issue and we have not received all our funds back from them,” said Leseane. Political sources placed blame squarely at the door of Rand Water for the water shortage crisis saying it had not cooperated and consulted properly with ELM before “deciding to destroy the life of residents and businesses and possibly create a third COVID wave in the Vaal”.
