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Buffalo City Metro has turned to the troubled Amatola Water Board for help in managing its struggling water and sanitation infrastructure projects.
This as the city battles to spend critical grant funding and complete stalled multimillion-rand projects on time.
Metro authorities say the partnership is aimed at helping the city avoid losing conditional grant allocations from the national government because of underspending and procurement delays.
The council last week approved a plan for the Amatola Water Board to act as the city’s implementing agent for water and sanitation projects, though the decision sparked criticism from the opposition DA.
In a report tabled before the council, city manager Mxolisi Yawa admitted the metro faced the prospect of forfeiting grant funding because of low expenditure on capital water and sanitation projects.
Yawa said appointing the water board would help the city address its spending challenges.
“The appointment of AWB as the city’s implementing agent will assist with expenditure challenges,” Yawa told councillors.
He urged the council to approve a service-level agreement to allow the water board to assist in “managing the design and implementation of the water and sanitation infrastructure within the BCM area of operations”.
The decision comes despite the metro recently establishing its own standalone water and sanitation trading services unit.
According to Yawa, the arrangement followed engagements between mayor Princess Faku and water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina.
“The municipality had engagements with the national department of water and sanitation, where BCM presented its service delivery challenges and financial constraints,” Yawa said.
“The minister emphasised that any motivation for additional support would depend on BCM’s demonstrable ability to fully spend its current water and sanitation grant allocations.”
Yawa said procurement delays had become a major obstacle, particularly after substantial grant funding was only transferred by the National Treasury in March.
“It was therefore proposed that the appointment of Amatola Water as an implementing agent should be considered to assist accelerate expenditure,” he said.
He told the council that the water board had previously acted as an implementing agent in other municipalities and had both project management expertise and an in-house construction unit.
“The key focus is to accelerate provision of water and sanitation infrastructure upgrades and expenditure of the allocated grant funding,” Yawa said.
Metro spokesperson Bongani Fuzile defended the move, saying the agreement would strengthen collaboration between the metro and its bulk water supplier.
“It will also ensure shared responsibility in the implementation of critical water interventions, as demonstrated during the recent shutdown operations,” Fuzile said.
He said the memorandum of understanding would eliminate delays previously caused by having to draft separate agreements every time the two entities worked together.
“The municipality is currently in the process of implementing projects linked to the grant funding,” Fuzile said.
“It is important that these funds are spent within the prescribed conditions, as failure to do so could result in the loss of future funding allocations to other municipalities.”
Amatola Water does not appear to have a track record which instils confidence that they will be able to provide the required infrastructure through their operational teams
— Geoff Walton, DA councillor
Late last year, BCM revealed it would require about R10bn over the next six years to repair its collapsing water and sanitation infrastructure.
The city manages a reticulation network stretching more than 2,400km, including 96 sewer pump stations and 15 wastewater treatment plants.
Many of those treatment plants are either dysfunctional or operating without valid water-use licences.
Only four of the metro’s 15 wastewater treatment plants are fully operational.
The infrastructure failures have stalled development in areas including Bhisho, Qonce and surrounding communities.
During the council debates, several DA councillors questioned whether the Amatola Water Board had the capacity to assist the metro.
DA councillor Geoff Walton said his party supported the need to improve water infrastructure but doubted the water board’s ability to deliver.
“Amatola Water does not appear to have a track record which instils confidence that they will be able to provide the required infrastructure through their operational teams,” Walton said.
“Allocating the task of implementation to another body is an abdication of responsibility.”
EFF councillors Siyabonga Gida and Mziyanda Hlekiso supported the move, with Hlekiso saying his party had advocated since 2019 for the water board to take over such functions from the metro.
DA chief whip Anathi Majeke said her party intended reporting the matter to the National Treasury.
Daily Dispatch
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