City of Saints’ sorrow: Makhanda fights water crisis

Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, is a shadow of its formerly glorious self and is on the brink of becoming a ghost town.

Residents of the sleepy rural university town, better known as the City of Saints, are collecting signatures for a petition to national government to intervene and stop a water crisis that has brought the area on its knees.

At least 20 000 signatures will carry the weight of their demands.

Deteriorating service delivery, crime and a water crisis

Residents and civil society structures are battling against deteriorating service delivery, endemic crime and now a water crisis in the Makana local municipality.

At the forefront of the battle is the Makana Citizens Front (MCF). The movement believes the water shortages are as a result of corruption and mismanagement of funds in the municipality, which is under administration.

Attempts to get comment from Makana mayor Yandiswa Vara and municipal manager Phumelele Kate failed.

ALSO READ: Makana Tourism agency shuts doors after municipality failed to pay it R1.4m

MCF, which won five seats during the 2021 local government election, is famous for its assertive demands for accountability for expenditure and service delivery by the executive and officials.

Its chair, Lungile Mxube, said the widespread patronage that occurred during the tenure of late executive mayor Zamuxolo Peter was behind the municipal collapse.

Corruption and internal rot

It had opened the floodgates of corruption and internal rot that saw infrastructure collapse and maladministration, including improper and unbudgeted appointments.

He alleged during Peter’s term, the infrastructure funding was redirected to pay salaries, the purchase of expensive cars and the siphoning of municipal funds into the pockets of individuals.

The extent of the graft was subject of a probe by the Kabosu forensic investigation which, among others, found at least 81 ghost workers were on the municipal payroll.

Mxube said despite the Kabuso report recommendations, the ghost workers were still being paid by the municipality with no remedial action taken.

ALSO READ: Mojak Lehoko: On writing for Black Tax and tackling grief in new stand-up show