THE uMkhanyakude District Municipality has expressed surprise that Mtubatuba Mayor Qhina Mkhwanazi, without consulting them, has applied to the Department of Water for a permission to provide Mtuba residents with water.
uMkhanyakude spokesperson Mduduzi Dlamini said Mkhwanazi should have raised any problems at the Mayors’ Forum before sending his application to the department and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).
‘We were not consulted at all about this matter. It is our responsibility as district to supply communities with water and we have not failed to execute our mandate,’ said Dlamini.
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‘We are disappointed that Mkhwanazi decided to overlook us. We take this as political statement, and we do not like his approach.
‘We would like to meet with him so that we can have a proper discussion on the way forward.’
Mkhwanazi called a media briefing in July, announcing he had sent an application to the Department of Water to ask for a permission to supply his community with water.
He said the uMkhanyakude District Municipality has failed in its mandate and that no funds were available to maintain the existing water infrastructure in the area.
But Dlamini said millions of rands have been invested.
‘We have the Mpukunyoni (Mtuba) and Hluhluwe water supply upgrades underway and these projects started in 2011.
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‘We have good, solid sustainable water infrastructure in place. We have drilled boreholes along the Mtubatuba River to ensure that water supply is not interrupted when the river runs dry,’ he said.
Dlamini added that they are working hard to ensure future water challenges are adequately dealt with.
‘We are also working jointly with Zululand District Municipality on the Hlabisa and Mandlakazi water projects, which will be completed in January.’
Mkhwanazi in turn said it was not true that uMkhanyakude was unaware of the water crisis and that he had requested permission to provide Mtubatuba’s residents with water.
‘I did raise the matter at the Mayor’s Forum meeting and the minutes will prove that.
‘It seems as if uMkhanyakude was not keen to discuss the matter, that is why we decided to write to Cogta and to Department of Water Affairs.
‘The uMhlathuze Municipality has done so, and so did Vryheid.’
Mkhwanazi said ward councillors find it difficult to deal with questions from residents who are not aware that it is the district municipality’s responsibility to provide them with water.
