Greed at uMngeni-uThukela poisons SA water supply chain: AfriForum wants answers
AfriForum demands the immediate resignation of Khanyisani Stanley Shandu, a board member at uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW), due to his alleged involvement in a R390 million pipeline scandal. The pipeline, which was supposed to cost around R80 million, ended up costing almost five times more. The organisation is also requesting that all documentation related to this pipeline be made public.
This follows the revelation that Shandu is linked to the company contracted to carry out this work. Although Shandu had previously declared that he was a director of this company, he had not declared his beneficial ownership and shareholding in the company.
AfriForum also calls on Pemmy Majodina, Minister of Water and Sanitation, to fully implement the recommendations of the forensic investigation report, including criminal charges where necessary.
According to AfriForum, this pipeline scandal is more than just another example of corruption. Rather, it is a case study of how South Africa’s water supply system, from the boardroom to the tap, can be broken by a single act of greed.
The board members of a water board like UUW have one duty above all else: to protect the integrity of the system and the public money entrusted to it. Board members must prevent conflicts of interest, enforce good governance and ensure the safe and efficient delivery of water. They are appointed by the Minister of Water and Sanitation to uphold the law, not to bend it for personal gain.
UUW is intended to be the dependable backbone of water supply for large parts of KwaZulu-Natal, delivering bulk water to municipalities such as eThekwini, Msunduzi, Ugu and iLembe. Yet it is already buckling under ageing infrastructure, underinvestment and rising demand for water. A large part of its network currently operates beyond design capacity and major upgrades should have taken place years ago to prevent collapse.
Municipalities owe UUW more than R2.7 billion in unpaid bills, a sign of poor management that is further straining the system, leaving the water board with less money to fix leaks, upgrade plants or invest in new infrastructure.
When institutions like UUW lose control, it opens the door for criminals to take over what should be a basic public service. The so-called “water mafias” are thriving in KwaZulu-Natal. These criminal groups control water tanker operations because bulk water infrastructure has collapsed and legal delivery has been replaced by chaos and corruption. These mafias exploit the void left by poor governance and inadequate infrastructure. They sabotage valves, vandalise pumping stations and then profit by selling the same water back to desperate communities at inflated prices.
“South Africans have every right to be angry. When a board member of a public entity, such as Shandu, uses his position to benefit a company connected to him while the system beneath him collapses, it exacerbates the suffering of people who fight daily for clean, reliable water and betrays every taxpayer who funds these institutions in good faith,” says Marais de Vaal, Advisor for Environmental Affairs at AfriForum.
