uMkhanyakude ‘in state of utter collapse’

FOLLOWING the removal of Bamba Ndwandwe as Administrator of uMkhanyakude District Municipality (UKDM), his close-out report highlights the dire state of affairs in the district.

‘A state of utter collapse’ is how it describes UKDM’s service delivery programmes and financial management.

The report was sent to the Zululand Observer by a source within the district municipality. Ndwandwe was contacted, but declined to comment.

According to the report, uMkhanyakude’s dire water shortage can be put down to financial mismanagement and no water and sanitation maintenance programmes undertaken.

‘There is no evidence there was ever any operational and maintenance system for water and sanitation services,’ said the report.

In fact, 80% of all water and waste water treatment plants are dysfunctional.

This, despite huge capital investment projects, including the infamous Mtubatuba waterworks expansion project, which saw UKDM pay at least R60-million for a non-functioning plant. The report also questioned numerous tender contracts, all of which were deemed illegal.

UKDM’s budgets reflect a ‘consistent pattern of unauthorised expenditure’ and the ‘persistent exaggeration of revenue and underplay of programme expenditure to artificially balance the budget’.

The report states there is simply no money to pay debts and that intervention has not achieved the desired effect on service delivery, particularly water and sanitation services which are cash driven.

Recovery

UKDM’s recovery is entirely dependent on three programmes – Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding, Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) grant funding for bulk water and sanitation, and UKDM water conservation.

However, these three entities’ ability to work together will be crucial.

According to DWS, the district municipality’s defaults have caused delays in projects, not least the completion of one major bulk water project which was not supported by water reticulation infrastructure.

‘The undesirable impact is that there is water in uMkhanyakude, but it cannot be delivered to communities and households,’ said the report.

UKDM is set to lose R108-million of MIG funding owing to under-expenditure, but plans are afoot to spend this money on essential water and sanitation projects and maintenance.

Payroll issues mentioned include the suspension of a manager for failure to report a deceased employee in 2012, leading to full salary being paid to the deceased until 2015.