Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) portfolio committee was left concerned after some municipalities did not attend an important meeting on water provision.
The portfolio committee expressed its concern at the failure of the municipalities that are water service authorities to attend the special sitting of the committee that had a specific focus on the provision of water across the province.
The meeting was held on Friday at the Archie Gumede Conference Centre in Mayville, Durban and was attended by KZN Cogta MEC Sipho Hlomuka.
Committee chairperson Zinhle Cele said the uThukela, Zululand, King Cetshwayo, uMzinyathi and Newcastle municipalities sent representatives to the important meeting, which dealt with the provision of water to communities by municipalities.
Cele said that currently, the province and country face a water crisis which requires all stakeholders to act in harmony in order to find innovative solutions that will ensure that institutions that have been empowered by the Constitution to bring water to communities are able to do so in a manner that is humane.
“As the portfolio committee, we are disappointed in the conduct of these municipalities who have denied the committee an opportunity to exercise oversight of their work of bringing water to our communities. As members of the legislature, we take our oath seriously and will not be deterred by municipalities who do not wish to account for how they bring services to our communities,” Cele said.
“What is most unfortunate is that the municipalities that have snubbed our meeting are the ones that are performing poorly on critical indicators such as expenditure on critical grants such as the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, and almost all of them have adopted unfunded budgets. We believe that these are major indicators that these municipalities need all the assistance and support they could get but yet they choose to snub a committee of the KZN legislature.”
Cele said that the failure by these municipalities to attend the sitting puts communities at a great disadvantage as it deprives the committee of its constitutional duty of oversight, which could hamper its ability to support efforts by other organs of state to assist these municipalities in improving access to water for communities.
The portfolio committee has commenced the process of issuing formal correspondence to these municipalities expressing its displeasure at their snub.
Daily News