Emfuleni spent R65 million on water tankers as taps run dry

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Over R65 million has been spent on water tankers by Emfuleni, yet residents do not have access to water.

Thousands of residents in parts of Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) are being deprived of access to an uninterrupted water supply despite the municipality paying contractors R65 251 020,39 for water tankers, this is according to Kingsol Chabalala, the DA Constituency Head in Emfuleni North.

Chabalala says many residents claim that they go weeks without getting water from the tankers. 

“This is unacceptable as access to water is a basic right, and the contractors are paid to render this service. The affected residents are now forced to either buy water or commute to neighbouring areas to fetch it.

“In the past three financial years, the department of water and sanitation implemented the project in Emfuleni where companies such as Downtown Spares CC, Plexiphon 213 CC, and Alsandro Construction Pty were hired and paid millions to distribute water with tankers to residents.

“An amount of R12 514 656,13 was paid to the contractors in 2020/21; followed by R24 862 798,26 in 2021/22 and a further R27 873 566,00 in the year 2022/23,” he explained. 

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This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Mzikayifani Khumalo in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

According to MEC Khumalo, all contractors were awarded a three-year contract.

Chabalala added that Emfuleni must learn from the previous DA-led multi-party coalition in Mogale City, which procured twelve water tankers instead of outsourcing.

He continued; “Over R65 million is too much to be spent on outsourcing water tankers. The DA proposes that Emfuleni prioritises investing in fixing existing water infrastructure to ensure residents have access to an uninterrupted water supply.”

Chabalala said they will also table follow-up questions to MEC Khumalo to ascertain how many people have benefited from these water tankers and if the municipality has plans to procure its own tankers.