SA water department is broke – report
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is reportedly bankrupt, and is struggling to pay contractors because it is R4.3 billion in the red.
According to the City Press, senior executives have advised that Cabinet place the department, which is headed up by Nomvula Mokonyane, under administration.
Mokonyane is the former Premier of Gauteng, and was replaced by ANC Secretary David Makhura in May 2014.
The paper noted that the department is facing an investigation by both Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), for tender and other irregularities, with multi-billion rand projects including the R26 billion Lesotho Highlands Water Project set to be probed.
City Press highlighted several revelations it obtained in confidential emails, including:
- The department has unpaid invoices amounting to R1.7 billion for the current financial year, adding to the unpaid invoices worth R1.1 billion from the prior year.
- The Water Trading Entity, a department unit that deals with water sales and rights, has an overdraft of more than R2.6 billion.
- A contractor is suing the department for more than R400 million for unpaid invoices.
- Critical service delivery projects have stalled due to a lack of funds.
- The Giyani project which began with a R500 million budget, has swelled to more than R5 billion ‘without tender processes being followed’.
Mokonyane’s spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, told City Press: “The department is not broke, as alleged. Out of the R15.5 billion budget allocation for the department, the department has spent R12.6 billion and still has R2.9 billion available.” Ratau also denied that the department had an overdraft.
Read the full article in the Sunday 12 February edition of the Sunday Times.
Read: South Africa’s water crisis is just another tragic consequence of state capture
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