As Makhanda staggers into its eighth week of crippling water outages, the spotlight has shifted sharply onto the Makana Local Municipality, with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on the brink of finalising a sweeping probe into seven controversial tenders linked to alleged fraud and maladministration.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the probe was nearing completion and the unit was in the process of compiling the Final Presidential Report to be submitted to the office of the president in the next quarter of 2026.
In October 2024, the Makhanda magistrate’s court granted the SIU a warrant to search the premises of the Makana Local Municipality and seize evidence that might assist with the investigation.
A month later, the SIU, assisted by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) unit, raided the offices of the municipality, confiscating laptops, phones and other evidence.
Kganyago said the SIU and the Hawks collected documentation and equipment to investigate tenders from January 2019 to October 2024.
Four of the seven tenders that were investigated were water-related.
“The application for a search and seizure followed the signing of Proclamation 207 of 2024 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which authorised the SIU to investigate allegations of serious maladministration in the affairs of the Makana Local Municipality involving seven tenders,” he said.
This included the Makana Bulk Sewer Upgrade Phase 1.
Kganyago said the office of the auditor-general had flagged contracts and goods or services procured by the municipality with a transaction value above R200,000 without inviting competitive bids.
These included:
- Professional engineering services for a groundwater development project;
- Implementing agents for water conservation and demand management;
- The reappointment of MBB Consulting for water conservation and demand management;
- The electrification of the greater Makana and surrounding areas, an 11KV line project;
- The hosting of municipal emails and provision of internet services; and
- The operation and management of the Makana burning landfill site for six months.
In a report handed over to the municipality in February 2025, the SIU outlined its findings and emphasised the municipality had a legal obligation to pay the SIU’s fees for the investigation.
Kganyago said the estimated amount was just more than R12m, which would need to be paid by the municipality.
Makana spokesperson Anele Mjekula confirmed in 2025 that the municipality had planned to apply for an exemption as it would not be able to afford the fees quoted by the SIU.
Asked about the current status of the SIU investigation, Mjekula said the municipality could not comment while the investigation was ongoing.
DA ward councillor Geoff Embling urged the SIU to speed up the probe.
“The SIU was supposed to give us feedback by August last year and they keep extending it,” Embling said.
“They have meetings and they make promises, but nothing ever happens.
“We want to see people being penalised and convicted, but I don’t hold much hope because I have heard of similar investigations happening at other municipalities and nothing has happened.”
Adding to the residents’ frustrations, the Makana municipality has reportedly defaulted on the one-day-on, one-day-off alternating water supply plan, which was meant to start on February 14.
Residents said that though this had happened in some parts of Makhanda, large areas still had no water.
For those “lucky” enough to have water, it came out of taps brown in colour, and the municipality advised residents to boil it.
Makhanda Business and Residents’ Association vice-chair Thomas Stone said despite numerous letters and attempts to engage the municipality on the ongoing outage, residents were frustrated that there had been no response.
“The constitution clearly states that sufficient water is a basic right,” Stone said.
“The powers-that-be in the top echelons of the Makana municipality should hang their heads in shame.
“They are pushing us over the abyss and deliberately lying to the citizens of this once beautiful city.”
While the municipality claims that the drought is one of the leading causes of the current outages, The Herald reported earlier in February that though below-average rainfall had been a contributing factor, the town had ample water from both the Settlers Dam and the Fish River but crumbling infrastructure was stopping it from reaching the city.
The municipality also claimed vandalism was a significant contributor to the water issue, and on February 12 2025 it called on law enforcement to work with it to address the issue.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Siphokazi Mawisa, however, said no cases of vandalism to water infrastructure had been reported.
In June 2025, the municipality started installing above-ground “smart” water meters.
This new system allowed residents to buy water vouchers which would be loaded onto the meter.
Within weeks of these new water meters being installed, vandals began to destroy them to get to the small lithium battery and the sim cards used to load water credits.
Embling said residents had warned the municipality about vandalism before these meters were installed but it fell on deaf ears.
“We predicted that this exact thing was going to happen,” Embling said.
“It’s happening every week now.
“Scores of them are being vandalised and residents sit without water.
“The contractor won’t replace the meters, the consultant won’t replace them because they don’t have enough funds, and the municipality’s solution is to bypass the meters after they have been vandalised, which gives residents free water.”
Embling said residents had now asked the municipality to install these water meters inside their properties to curb the vandalism, but without available budget it was not possible.
“The reason they installed these meters last year is because they are too lazy to check them, and they would rather use this digital smart meter system.
“It’s all about contracts.
“This whole water meter project cost the municipality over R40m and it was completely unnecessary.
“They could have just hired two employees to walk around Makhanda every month to read the meters and pay them.
“After these meters are vandalised, everybody is getting bypassed, which means they get free water and the municipality is losing income.
“We predicted this at the beginning.
“People don’t even report the vandalism of their meters to the police any more.
“The people who are arrested for stealing copper and cables simply get released.”
In a letter written to co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams last week, DA MPL Retief Odendaal begged the MEC for intervention.
“The residents of Makhanda are exhausted by cyclical crises followed by assurances that do not translate into sustained improvement,” Odendaal said.
“The recurring failure to stabilise supply, honour published schedules, resolve leaks, install critical pumping infrastructure and protect revenue streams points to systemic governance and operational weaknesses that require decisive action.
“This matter now goes beyond temporary relief measures.
“It speaks to systemic governance and operational failures that require firm oversight and decisive correction.” — The Herald
