Despite intimidation and threats made against me for daring to question the allocation of an additional R20 million to Emthanjeni municipality for bulk water and sanitation infrastructure upgrades, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will not be bullied into silence.
The fifty-five residents who raised water shortage complaints on my local WhatsApp group this morning, along with the hundreds of others who have been pleading for urgent intervention, deserve more than empty promises. They deserve honest answers, decisive action, and a municipality that treats their basic right to water with the urgency it demands.
The DA will formally challenge the denial by the Mayor, Mr Gladwell Nkumbi, that the municipality received a R20 million allocation via the provincial adjustment budget. A tranche of this money was paid into the municipality’s account at the end of 2025 and, through the submission of a motion, I will insist that Council presents a detailed breakdown of all past and planned expenditure related to the R20 million allocation.
At both local and provincial level, the DA has fought relentlessly to secure funding to fix Emthanjeni’s water and sanitation network. Through ongoing pressure on the municipality, the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Provincial Treasury, the provincial office of the Department of Water and Sanitation, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), and even through the laying of criminal charges, we have ensured that funding was allocated. Now that the money is available, we will not stand by while the water crisis continues.
I have reported threats made against me, in relation to my probe into the R20 million, to the Hawks and the SAHRC.
The DA will not stop fighting for public funds to be managed transparently and accountably to ensure the restoration of the basic human right to water, to the people of Emthanjeni.