The municipality says water samples were collected monthly, blaming a reporting shortcoming for its failure to meet the performance target.
Nkomazi Local Municipality faces criticism over water quality monitoring after a report showed its sampling target was not met, Picture: iStock
Nkomazi Local Municipality in Mpumalanga has come under fire for failing to meet its water sampling target, potentially placing residents at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.
Sankie Mndawe, a DA councillor in Nkomazi local municipality, has called on the municipal manager to develop a plan detailing how the municipality will meet its water sampling targets.
Concerns over Nkomazi’s water sampling targets
Mndawe said the problem was caused by a service provider withholding the municipality’s water sampling and analysis results due to non-payment.
“The municipality had planned that, by 30 June, 16 of its water supply systems, together with the boreholes linked to them, would be sampled and monitored for water quality compliance under the Blue Drop programme.”
Mndawe said that, to date, none of the water supply systems had been sampled.
“The municipality’s fourth-quarter performance report says the laboratory results are not available and that compliance cannot be calculated by the Integrated Regulation Information System.”
WaterCAN warns of potential health risks
Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN, said: “This is an unacceptable failure of municipal leadership and a serious dereliction of duty. A municipality cannot claim to be providing a safe water supply when it has failed to meet its own water quality monitoring targets.”
Adam said water quality monitoring was not a box to be ticked for the Blue Drop programme, but a fundamental public health responsibility.
“You cannot establish whether water is safe to drink without appropriate monitoring and testing.
“Failure to sample water sources means the municipality is operating without the evidence needed to determine whether the water it supplies meets the required standards.”
She added that the consequences could be severe, as contaminated water could expose residents to dangerous pathogens, including E. coli and other disease-causing micro-organisms, potentially resulting in serious illnesses.
Infants, older people and those with weakened immune systems could be particularly vulnerable, she said.
“Besides the fact that they need to test the water urgently, senior officials, such as the municipal manager, must be held accountable for this mess. They should be fired.”
Municipality disputes claims of testing failure
Nkomazi Local Municipality manager Oupa Nkosi disputed the allegations, saying: “The municipality wishes to clarify that it has not failed to conduct water quality sampling.
“Sampling and monitoring of the municipal water supply systems, including boreholes linked to these systems, are conducted monthly.”
Nkosi said the required water quality samples had been collected during the reporting period.
However, due to a delay in submitting the supporting portfolio of evidence for the fourth-quarter report, the performance indicator was reported as not achieved.
“This reporting outcome was therefore due to the late submission of supporting documents and not a failure to conduct water quality sampling.”
Water expert Victor Mashego, a director of Mbombela Laboratory and Medicals, said: “People must pay their water bills to enable the municipality to collect revenue to maintain its water infrastructure.”
