With 16 of BCM’s 18 water tankers gathering dust at various workshops for repairs, city ratepayers had to foot an almost R50m bill for water to be carted to several metro-governed rural areas without access to piped water.
Between 2021 and March 2024, the metro paid R48.5m to ferry water to these areas, with the acting provincial auditor-general, Thobile Nteta, recently raising concerns that many water tankering contracts had been awarded without proper procurement processes being followed.
This figure could be higher as amounts for the 2024/2025 financial year are not included.
Nteta said blatant disregard of supply chain management processes had led to irregular expenditure amounting to a whopping R10.5bn between 2019 and the end of the 2023/2024 financial year.
On Friday, Nteta told the council the city’s accumulated irregular expenditure stood at R2.38bn in the 2019/2020 financial year, and had since ballooned to more than R10bn by end-March 2024.
Tabling the city’s 2023/2024 financial year audit outcome report, Nteta said it was a concern that the water tankering services were provided through the controversial contract 13b, one a court had declared irregular and set aside in 2019.
Nteta said that in 2021/2022 city ratepayers had paid R12.7m to ferry water to a number of affected villages around the metro, a figure which rose to R18.9m in 2022/2023 and dropped slightly to R16.9m in 2023/2024.
The city paid for the hire of 17 water tankers between 2021 and 2024.
“The root causes of excessive reliance on outsourced water tankering services were not appropriately addressed to ensure that all water users have sufficient and reliable access to water.
“Water projects to affected communities are significantly delayed and water tanker suppliers are being used for prolonged periods.
“Certain contractors are being contracted for prolonged periods and are unduly benefiting financially from these contracts.”
Late last year it was reported that two-thirds of BCM’s vehicle fleet was out of action, with only 500 of the 1,500 vehicles functioning.
Cogta MEC Zolile Williams told the legislature 1,000 vehicles were out of service “due to maintenance issues”.
Financial constraints meant the necessary repairs could not be scheduled.
On Friday, Nteta said a lack of maintenance “has a cumulative impact on service delivery and has a knock-on effect on expenditure incurred, that could be better applied to other deserving areas that affect the lives of citizens”.
“Water tankering services could be obtained at a more competitive rate if the market was tested through the award of a new tender.
“Water tankering services could be expanded to a wider community if the current water tankers are repaired as a matter of urgency.”
Nteta then gave city bosses an ultimatum to have all non-functional water tankers repaired by February 28.
He said the city must have a new water tanker tender in place by March 31, and urged city authorities to conduct an investigation into why the tankers had not been repaired.
Nteta also lamented the city’s continuous water losses, saying in the current financial year this had cost BCM R147.9m.
If this continued, it could worsen the city’s financial viability.
Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya did not respond to specific questions on Monday, but said Nteta’s issues were “being attended to, as part of our audit action plan”.
“This plan outlines steps to address and fix findings by the AG.”
Ngwenya said the metro provided water to about 97% of residents, with just 3% not having access to piped water, due to a lack of bulk water infrastructure.
“However, our aim is to ensure that 100% of our communities have access to water, so where there are still challenges we have to make provision.
“We have initiated a water tanker delivery programme to provide access to water to all areas that have no water infrastructure.
“This programme also assists in operational emergency cases due to planned or unplanned water interruptions as a result of infrastructure breakdowns, load-shedding, vandalism and drought conditions.”
The DA’s council leader, Sue Bentley, charged that the “water tanker mafia was alive and well” in BCM.
“While the DA acknowledges the need for water tankers, the extent of their dysfunctionality did come as a shock.
“The real indictment is that the fee for hiring tankers is 10 times more than the fee for repairs and maintenance of our own tankers.”
There was “obviously little will” to fix the BCM-owned water tanker fleet.
“We have no doubt it is intentional that the BCM tanker fleet is kept grounded so that hiring of trucks can take place.
“We also suspect that water infrastructure is vandalised or sabotaged to perpetuate the need for tankers to be delivering water to thirsty communities.”
Williams’s spokesperson, Pheello Oliphant, said his boss was “concerned about the skyrocketing costs” of water tankers, and the fact that16 were grounded.
“It is symptomatic of deficient prudence in the management of municipal assets,” Oliphant said.
EFF councillor Mziyanda Hlekiso said the city administration “is on autopilot, due to a lack of consequence management”.
Daily Dispatch
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