Rights body subpoenas Makana municipal bosses to explain service delivery failures

The delinquent Makana Municipality is in hot water with the SA Human Rights Commission which has issued its top brass with subpoenas to explain the massive service delivery failures which continue to afflict residents.

The Eastern Cape office of the SAHRC this week said its action was prompted by a slew of recent complaints from Makhanda residents of prolonged water and electricity outages, non-collection of domestic refuse and ongoing sewage leaks.

The usual poor service delivery was recently worsened by municipal staff industrial action which led to a complete collapse in water supply for more than eight days.

Rhodes University eventually suspended several of its academic programmes in the interest of the health and dignity of its students.

It has since returned to full activity after its water supply was restored.

SAHRC provincial manager Dr Eileen Carter said in a statement that the decision to issue subpoenas had been prompted by the municipality’s failure to respond to letters from it.

“The initiation of this investigative endeavour was prompted by a surge in complaints regarding the lack of providing service delivery, such as the lack of water services for long periods and substandard road conditions among other services in the Makana Local Municipality, significantly leading to the violation of the right to health, various intertwined human rights and hindering access to fundamental rights.”

She said the commission had also consulted the Director of Public Prosecutions, “underscoring the gravity associated with adherence to the commission’s investigative processes”.

The subpoena hearing will be heard at Rhodes University on Wednesday.

“The strategic issuance of subpoenas serves as a crucial measure to uphold the integrity of the inquiry and transparently address alleged violations,” Carter said.

The Makana Municipality had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.

All eyes have been on Makana lately after the auditor-general issued it with its fifth disclaimer in row.

The municipality has acknowledged it is broke with a low revenue collection rate of just 52% while its debt to, among others, Eskom has once more spiralled out of control.

It was supposed to pay Eskom about R58m at the end of August.

Eastern Cape co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams announced last week that the province would once again intervene in the administration of the incapable municipality.

He is using the constitutional intervention to send in officials to assess and address challenges in a municipality, including infrastructure failures, financial mismanagement and service delivery problems.

Williams will have his work cut out after several previous provincial government interventions failed with the municipality seemingly unable to implement financial and other turnaround plans.

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