The troubled Umhlathuze Water board will soon have its staff, assets and liabilities transferred to Umgeni Water, the Department of Water and Sanitation has revealed.
In a government gazette, minister Senzo Mchunu announced government’s intention to extend the boundary of Umgeni Water to include Umhlathuze 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.
“The singled water board for KwaZulu-Natal will enable the waters boards to consolidate their assets and skills for key infrastructure development and access to water for the entire province,” reads the gazette.
Mchunu, who used to be the province’s premier, went on to elaborate further on the rationale behind the move.
“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 water boards … the due diligence [on the merger of the two water boards] will be conducted and shared with stakeholders on completion.”
The public and other interested parties have been given two months to comment and make inputs on the merger.
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.
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