The invite to new Minister Senzo Mchunu – who replaces ousted Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu – was made this week by the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) which says all stakeholders now require clarity on the way forward.
Also, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) project Manager recently died from Covid and this created a management vacuum on finally funding and resourcing, through Rand Water as the implementing agent, the entire Vaal River rehabilitation process, said GTCoC CEO Klippies Kritzinger.
Kritzinger also urged that Minister Mchunu and new Tourism Minister Sisulu work closely together to restore the Vaal’s tourism and marine economy as a matter of priority.
“We invite Minister Mchunu to an urgent meeting in the Vaal on the future implementation of this project and the Minister’s vision – our local Vaal economy and environment can no longer afford uncertainty due to many failures on national level,”said Kritzinger.
Minister Sisulu, now Minister of Tourism, regularly visited the Vaal and had Cabinet remove responsibility for Water and Sanitation from the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) and given to DWS. This was after failures by Army and Erwat interventions to resolve the pollution crisis.
Now the GTCoC fears further instability in project implementation with severe environmental and economic repercussions in the Vaal region already battered by disinvestment sentiment due to failure to provide service delivery and combat sewage pollution.
