Johannesburg- Tension is brewing between two key ministers in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet over the control of KwaZulu-Natal’s Umgeni Water.
Minister of water and sanitation Senzo Mchunu and his tourism counterpart Lindiwe Sisulu are at odds on who has the authority to implement last week’s judgment that dissolved the water authority’s board that was appointed by Sisulu during her tenure as minister of water and sanitation.
Sisulu is challenging the court order on the grounds that judge Piet Koen has fundamentally erred when he ruled that her decision last year to dissolve Umgeni Water board was invalid.
Following the dissolution of the board, Sisulu appointed her key political ally and former youth league leader Magasela Mzobe to chair the 11-member board of the entity that supplies cities like Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone with bulk water and has assets worth billions.
Sisulu’s spokesperson, Steve Motale, confirmed to Sunday World that she was not satisfied with the court ruling. “The minister and her legal team have fully studied the ruling of the court. She and her legal team believe that the ruling is fundamentally flawed, and she will be appealing the court decision.”
However, Mchunu has wasted no time in issuing an ultimatum to the board. He has given them seven days to furnish reasons why their appointment must not be nullified in the wake of last week’s Pietermaritzburg High Court decision. Speaking to Sunday World, Mchunu said: “We have no intention of challenging the court decision. We will be following the order of the court.”
In one of the letters sent to board members and which Sunday World has seen, Mchunu made his intention clear about the
future of the current board.
Mchunu wrote: “On 1 August 2020, the former minister of the department of human settlements, water and sanitation appointed you to serve in the interim board of Umgeni Water. In terms of the judgment [delivered on August 20], your appointment has been found to be unlawful and [must be] reviewed.”
The letter dated October 28 further states: “Considering the aforesaid, I would like you to furnish me with written reasons, within seven days of receipt of this letter, as to why in terms of section 35 (5) of the Act [I must not] terminate your membership as a member of the interim board.”
Observers believe Sisulu’s decision to challenge the court’s ruling was undesirable considering that she no longer heads the water and sanitation ministry.
When Mzobe, known to be part of the so-called Radical Economic Transformation faction of the governing party, was appointed as board chairperson, it was viewed as a political decision by Sisulu. It is widely believed that she was getting combat ready and consolidating her political support ahead of the ANC’s next year elective conference next year where she is expected to contest the party presidency.
In one of his biggest decisions this year, Ramaphosa in August announced that the water and sanitation and human settlements ministries would be split. Sisulu was then moved to tourism, while Mchunu took political responsibility for water and sanitation. Mmamoloko Kubayi has since been moved from tourism and appointed minister of human
settlements.
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