Mchunu in for a roasting after a disastrous R3bn Giyani water project

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu could be in for a torrid time from potential ANC voters next week when he visits the Mopani district of Limpopo to assess progress on the disastrous R3 billion Giyani bulk water project.

People in more than 1 200 villages that have yet to see water supplied to them – despite a promise that the project would be completed by 2017 – could be a crucial voting block for the ANC in the upcoming local elections.

Some of the residents in the area are threatening not to cast their votes for the ANC if their protracted water woes are not resolved.

The disgruntled residents told The Citizen they were tired of the ANC’s empty promises.

They claimed before every election, senior government officials flocked to Giyani to woo votes from them.

Hlopheka Nkuna of Dzumeri said: “We have now realised the ANC is using us as its ladder to advance political and economical power.

“We are a lot wiser than we were before.

“We will either not vote for the party or take our votes to the opposition.”

Another resident, Vincent Shipalane of Nkomo village, said the ANC had managed to deliver on some of its promises in the past 27 years.

He said, among many other things, the community had a clinic, tar road, electricity and proper schools.

“The problem is water. Water is life and without it, we all die.

“Why keep promising the people when you know you won’t deliver?

“If we had water, we would all vote for the party,” said Shipalane. Ronny Baloyi of Muyexe – a poor, rural village which former president Jacob Zuma first visited after his May 2009 election as state president – echoed Shipalane’s words.

“We have water delivered by the Mopani district municipality here. But the water is not enough for our vegetable plantations as promised by the former president on his visit.

“We want clean, running water on our doorsteps for our day-to-day household needs and for sustaining our vegetable farms,” he said.

The Giyani bulk water project was initiated by Zuma and commissioned by former water and sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane in 2014 as a turnkey project.

Its initial budget was R502 million and the project was expected to be finished by 2017. The budget for the project escalated to R3.3 billion, but still residents continued to compete with wild animals for dirty water.

During his visit to the province a fortnight ago, Mchunu told the media the project would need R840 million more to be put to bed. The minister said the project had no designs in place nor a proper budget, among many other discrepancies.

He said the reason it failed to present a preferred end product was because there was no proper planning in the first place.

The Special Investigating Unit said recently that it was working round the clock to close the net on all people who illegally benefitted from the project.

This included people who stole money meant to finish the project, companies appointed without following relevant procurement process and those who claimed money for work not done.

The Citizen was informed that, because of the complexity of the project, Mchunu will again be visiting Giyani on 8 October. But some villagers say this is only to avert threats by residents to not vote for the ANC in the municipal elections.

– news@citizen.co.za