The Giyani Bulk Water Project was started in 2014 under former President Jacob Zuma and former Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane. The Project was intended to ease the transfer of water from Nandoni Dam.
To date it has still not been completed despite the sitting President and Ministers’ promises. Therefore, ActionSA’s lawyers are meeting with water experts whose testimony will be used as the foundation for legal papers to sue the Municipality, the Lepelle Northern Water Board and the Minister of Water and Sanitation, to ensure that they finally do their jobs and stop lying to the people of Giyani.
Should they fail to abide by a court order to deliver the Project, we will hold them contempt and we will have them thrown in jail.
Between 2014 and 2022, costs on the Project skyrocketed from R502 million to R4.5 billion. Despite this absurd and exorbitant expenditure, the taps continue to run dry, violating the dignity and fundamental human rights of residents in the area.
Last year, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mnchunu, told the public that the Project would be completed in August 2022, then September 2022. In December, to save face, President Ramaphosa addressed a meeting in Giyani and promised the people that in March 2023 water would be available to communities failing which he would fire his Water and Sanitation Minister Mnchunu.
March has come and gone, and sadly, as expected, there is still no water in Giyani and Mnchunu is still comfortably ensconced in his position as minister in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.
The President seems to be suffering from acute memory loss about the promise he made in December 2022. This is how the Ramaphosa Administration treats ordinary people and voters.
The time has come to say, “no more.” We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Giyani who are protesting against this terrible atrocity.
We will hold the government to account in this matter.
The time for mere talk and empty promises of new deadlines that make a mockery of the dignity of the people of Giyani and treats their fundamental human rights as a joke, is over; the time of action is upon us.
If Minister Senzo Mchunu is incapable of taking his job seriously, we will create a situation where he is compelled to deliver water to the people of Giyani.
We are tired of a President and Ministers who make false promises with zero consequences, who are merely in a position to earn a pay cheque while those they swore to serve continue to suffer in horrendous conditions.
We will not back down until this matter is resolved.
It is simply unacceptable for the Minister to tell the people of Giyani every month that they have longer to wait.
Let’s fix Giyani, together.
Government Has Run Out of Time on the Giyani Bulk Water Project; ActionSA to Step In
The Giyani Bulk Water Project was started in 2014 under former President Jacob Zuma and former Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane. The Project was intended to ease the transfer of water from Nandoni Dam.
To date it has still not been completed despite the sitting President and Ministers’ promises. Therefore, ActionSA’s lawyers are meeting with water experts whose testimony will be used as the foundation for legal papers to sue the Municipality, the Lepelle Northern Water Board and the Minister of Water and Sanitation, to ensure that they finally do their jobs and stop lying to the people of Giyani.
Should they fail to abide by a court order to deliver the Project, we will hold them contempt and we will have them thrown in jail.
Between 2014 and 2022, costs on the Project skyrocketed from R502 million to R4.5 billion. Despite this absurd and exorbitant expenditure, the taps continue to run dry, violating the dignity and fundamental human rights of residents in the area.
Last year, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mnchunu, told the public that the Project would be completed in August 2022, then September 2022. In December, to save face, President Ramaphosa addressed a meeting in Giyani and promised the people that in March 2023 water would be available to communities failing which he would fire his Water and Sanitation Minister Mnchunu.
March has come and gone, and sadly, as expected, there is still no water in Giyani and Mnchunu is still comfortably ensconced in his position as minister in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.
The President seems to be suffering from acute memory loss about the promise he made in December 2022. This is how the Ramaphosa Administration treats ordinary people and voters.
The time has come to say, “no more.” We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Giyani who are protesting against this terrible atrocity.
We will hold the government to account in this matter.
The time for mere talk and empty promises of new deadlines that make a mockery of the dignity of the people of Giyani and treats their fundamental human rights as a joke, is over; the time of action is upon us.
If Minister Senzo Mchunu is incapable of taking his job seriously, we will create a situation where he is compelled to deliver water to the people of Giyani.
We are tired of a President and Ministers who make false promises with zero consequences, who are merely in a position to earn a pay cheque while those they swore to serve continue to suffer in horrendous conditions.
We will not back down until this matter is resolved.
It is simply unacceptable for the Minister to tell the people of Giyani every month that they have longer to wait.
Let’s fix Giyani, together.