Watch Mokonyane closely, environmental activists plead

Newly appointed Minister of Environmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane may need to be watched closely, lest she repeats the disasters of her previous portfolio in the department of water affairs.

Environmental activists have expressed fear that this could happen unless she was kept in check.

Mokonyane was called out in all quarters for alleged bungling in the department of water affairs, leaving a legacy of endemic corruption and maladministration.

The department was left with a R11.2 billion debt because municipalities, water boards, state entities and the private sector, including the mining industry, did not pay their water bills.

One of her projects, the Giyani water project in Limpopo, was hit by massive corruption, which Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has undertaken to have investigated and the culprits brought to book.

The delayed Lesotho Highland Water Project’s Phase 2 also continued to haunt Mokonyane. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) threatened to take her to court for the alleged maladministration surrounding the project, which forced it to be delayed and exceed its budget by billions of rands.

News that she would replace the late Edna Molewa was not welcomed by opposition parties.

They criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for keeping her and former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini in his cabinet.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said the president had missed a second opportunity to get rid of the two, whom he accused of being corrupt.

Cape Town-based Environmental Monitoring Group programme manager Richard Pfaff described her appointment as “disconcerting”, given her record as the minister of water affairs and sanitation.

“We hope she will take her new job seriously and apply her mind properly to issues surrounding the environment,” Pfaff said.

She must consider the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) special report on the impact of global warming that came out in October, he said.

The report found the impact of global warming at a 1.5°C increase was far greater than the world envisaged, while the impacts of a 2°C increase would be catastrophic for poor and developing nations.

“We don’t want to fall behind in terms of warming of the earth and we hope that Mokonyane will help us to adhere to the protocols.

“We are hoping she will work well with us. There is a lot of work to be done to save the earth,” Pfaff said.

Earthlife Africa head Makoma Lekalakala said they hoped the new minister would act in accordance with her oath to uphold the Constitution, which guaranteed environmental rights.

“She must not authorise environmentally downgrading projects like coal mines and fire power stations. They are the biggest contributors to green-house emissions,” Lekalakala said.

Oliver Meth, spokesperson for Greenpeace Africa, urged her to play a critical role in advocating for the constitutional right to a healthy environment.

“We call on the new minister to show real leadership by ensuring that the department holds South Africa’s worst polluters accountable, and to protect South Africans from deadly air pollution, water scarcity and the dangers of climate change,” he said.

“We cannot afford for the department of environmental affairs to be anything less than a functional, strong advocate for environmental justice,” he said.

Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said it was difficult to criticise new Minister of Home Affairs Siyabonga Cwele as he had been low-key in his previous portfolios. When Cwele was a Zuma supporter and worked with the Guptas, he managed to escape public scrutiny.

“As then minister of state security, there was almost nothing to criticise him for because that is not a transparent space.

“The only blight for him was his former wife, who was involved in drug trafficking syndicates and running drug mules,” Fikeni said.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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