The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been given the go-ahead by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of maladministration in the Department of Water & Sanitation amounting to billions of rand, and to recover any financial loss to the government.
According to Business Day, the maladministration arises from service contracts and the procurement of goods in various departmental projects.
These include the ‘Drop the Block’ Project and the contract entered into between the Department and Sedibeng Water in 2016; the ‘Almost Empty Outdoor’ Campaign and the appointment of Sedibeng Water as the implementing agent in an allegedly irregular manner for the provision of generic services in 2016; and the ‘War on Leaks’ Programme, and alleged irregular appointments in, and payments to, Rand Water and the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority between 2015 and 2018/2019.
Business Day reports that the five-year ‘war on leaks’ programme was launched by the presidency in August 2015 and reportedly cost about R3bn to implement.
The project was aimed at curbing water leaks across the country, as the government lost more than R7bn-worth of drinkable water a year due to leaking taps and pipes. The programme aimed to employ 15 000 young people who were to be trained as artisans.
[Image: mrjn Photography on Unsplash]