SA’s second biggest township came to a standstill on Tuesday as water supplies to Mdantsane were cut as essential workers from the Amatola Water Board (AWB) protested over claims of corruption and maladministration.
Several schools closed, Cecilia Makiwane Hospital was forced to rely on backup supplies and businesses in Mdantsane were shut down.
Amatola Water said Ntabozuko, Debe Nek and Keiskammahoek and their respective surrounding areas were also affected.
This was due to ongoing “industrial action” which affected the Nahoon Dam, Laing Dam, Masincendane and Debe Nek water treatment works.
A notice issued on Monday said the plants were offline.
“There is currently no production at these plants. This will result in interruptions in water supply for all areas serviced by these plants.”
But employees sitting outside the headquarters in Vincent on Tuesday denied taking industrial action, saying they merely wanted to meet their employer. They cited corruption and maladministration as the root cause of instability at the embattled entity.
In a meeting outside the offices, the staff accused management of not following correct procedures and costing the authority millions.
SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) shop steward Victor Totolo said their grievances included the dismissal of CEO Siyabulela Koyo on Friday, allegedly without following due process, by former board chair Pam Yako on her last day at work.
However, on Tuesday, water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina ordered the board to retract the termination of Koyo’s contract.
“I am extremely disappointed with the termination of the CEO’s contract without the board following the due legal process,” Majodina wrote.
“The precautionary suspension and investigation must be allowed to unfold.
“I have therefore instructed the board to reverse the termination of the chief executive’s contract immediately and allow the current investigation report to be discussed.”
Speaking to the Dispatch, Yako confirmed her contract with the board had ended on Friday after her resignation in April.
“I am studying my PhD and at Amatola I was not coping. My resignation has always been on the system and my term ended on Friday. I was asked by the minister before elections to stay and bring some stability.”
She refused to dwell on Koyo’s suspension, however said there were investigations levelled against him by the time she left office.
“From my side there is a report the board and minister has got on that matter. My resignation is not linked to this at all. There are reports on this regard, those from the investigators side, and my own report of what transpired. The board could answer this at best,” she said.
Amatola has been grappling with governance issues for a long time.
Its new interim board chair, Ndumiso Tyibilika, assumed office on Monday. This appointment follows the departure of Yako whose contract expired on Friday.
Koyo, who had been acting in the position for about a year, was appointed for a five-year term.
Koyo’s legal representative lambasted the probe into the CEO as a fishing expedition, and hinted the board had overstepped its mandate by getting involved in operational matters, which fell under Koyo’s authority.
Koyo was suspended after allegations of misconduct were levelled against him.
Amatola Water spokesperson Amanda Skritch confirmed that the board was considering Majodina’s letter.
Koyo’s attorney, Neville Gawula of N Gawula Incorporated, said: “On Monday we wrote to the newly appointed interim board of Amatola Water, setting out the reasons why we contend that the suspension is unlawful and the dismissal, even worse, without even being given an opportunity of a due process of law, is unlawful.
“We had given him an ultimatum of Wednesday [September 4], failing which we will approach the courts on an urgent basis to ensure our client is back at work.”
Totolo said among their grievances were that there was a moratorium on recruitment, an organisation review was suspended, there were pay disparities, employees were suspended without due processes and maladministration of the water board.
“We are not on strike. What we wanted yesterday is to have a meeting with the board, which we did, but it collapsed because it was virtual
“We realised that we are running the risk of losing our jobs if we allow what has happened to the CEO,” Totolo said.
Totolo disputed that their action had caused the water outage. “There are reservoirs in plant stations. It can’t be when you switch off or are not at work today then there’s no water.
“We were only here today [Tuesday] and yesterday [Monday]. It’s not true that there are areas with no water as a result of us being here. Maybe they [the employers] wanted to nullify our cause.”
On Tuesday, residents in Mdantsane zones 1, 2 and 3, said water had run out in the morning.
Mvuzo Mafilika, 62, from Zone 2, said: “We filled buckets with water for drinking and so that the little one could go to creche. “When I woke up there was water but after 8am there was nothing.”
Other zones, including 6, 8, 9,10, 11B and 12, also experienced water outages, leading to schools sending pupils home early.
Pupils at Nyameko High and Sitsaba Primary were sent home at about 11.30am.
“There was no water in the school so we were told to go home. Nothing was said about us returning tomorrow,” a pupil said.
Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima confirmed that schools had closed early.
Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase said: “We can confirm that the water supply at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital has been affected. “The taps stopped running about 1.40pm. However, the hospital has backup water tanks that last for up to 48 hours. We hope the water supply will soon be restored so that healthcare services will not be compromised.”
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said municipal services were unaffected by the water cuts. “We’re hoping the matter can be resolved speedily before it starts being severe.”
There were measures in place for such situations.
The Black Business Forum’s Luthando Bara said they were concerned about the strike that had affected so much of the city. “We urge all stakeholders to work collaboratively towards a swift and fair resolution, and we ask the city to provide assistance to the affected communities.”
Management and labour were still in meetings by the time of publication, according to Skritch.
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