The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has announced its intention to extend the service area of Rand Water to include Mpumalanga, minister Senzo Mchunu has revealed.
Mchunu in a government gazette released on Monday, said his department intends to amend the rules and allow Rand Water to provide bulk water services to the entire Mpumalanga province.
“Following the working sessions with the Provincial Governments, various Water Services Authorities and Water Boards regarding issues of governance, financial viability, accountability, and broader service delivery issues, a decision was taken to review the Water Boards,” Mchunu says in the gazette.
“The business case report will be reviewed and shared with stakeholders on completion. All interested persons and affected parties are invited to comment in writing on the extension of the service area of Rand Water to provide bulk water to the entire Mpumalanga Province for a period of sixty (60) days from the date of publication of this notice.”
Mchunu, in a separate gazette, said Bloem Water will now be called either Z.R Mahabane Central Water Board or Central Water Board.
Mchunu early this month said the troubled Umhlathuze Water board will soon have its staff, assets and liabilities transferred to Umgeni Water and form a single water board in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mchunu said the main objective of the reconfiguration is to consolidate the two water boards.
Umhlathuze Water has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in recent years. Its water board recently admitted that corruption resulted in a water project worth R60-million inflated to R135-million.
In October, the entity’s suspended CEO Mthokozisi Duze was released from jail on bail in a tender fraud case.
Duze is one of the accused in the matter involving director-general Nonhlanhla Mkhize and four others. The case is linked to tender fraud worth about R37-million.
