‘Mr President, please keep Min Sisulu in the Vaal’
Organised business has written directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa to keep Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in her portfolio and thus in charge of rescuing the Vaal River and resolving appalling sewage pollution in Emfuleni.
The letter by Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) CEO Klippies Kritzinger made it clear to President Ramaphosa the Vaal economy and environment was being held hostage by previous serial and failed attempts by national Government to address the situation.
Sisulu has made a deep impression on Vaal stakeholders and civil society that she is fully committed to turning the situation around and emphasised that resolve by regularly visiting the Vaal.
Kritzinger’s letter comes in the midst of media speculation Ramaphosa is about to reshuffle his Cabinet during a bitter power struggle inside the governing ANC – and last week Sisulu was reportedly also backed by provincial ANC structures as a next ANC President and thus of the country.
Ironically, the Department of Water and Sanitation this week announced it was starting emergency deployment of contractors to unblock sewer systems that flow into the Vaal River in response to the recent Human Rights Commission report on sewage pollution in the region.
Kritzinger and the GTCoC were adamant in the letter that removing Sisulu would be a major blow to the Vaal economy and set back the Vaal River pollution clean-up fatally.
“This is of great concern to us, since our whole economy is being held to ransom with billions of rands worth of projects on hold due to the inadequate and dysfunctional waste water infrastructure of Emfuleni.
“We have had many attempts at rectifying including using service providers such as Rand Water, the SANDF and ERWAT. All of these attempts were under the direction of previous ministers.
“However in less than 2 years Minister Sisulu has engaged with the Vaal as no other Minister has done before and has a clear pathway which we totally believe and trust to finally unlock the billions of rands worth of private investments on hold,” said Kritzinger.
Restoring water and sanitation infrastructure along with resuming service delivery as soon as possible are regarded by the GTCoC as key to business confidence, economic recovery and job creation in the Vaal, Kritzinger said.
