The DA has called for heads to roll over the latest water outages in Nelson Mandela Bay, with the party placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of water and sanitation director Barry Martin.
But while mayor Nqaba Bhanga has said there is no evidence to suggest sabotage at this stage, dozens of DA members have gone ahead and circulated a graphic titled “Watergate”, demanding action against Martin.
The latest water outages were due to three bursts on a major pipeline and an electrical fault, causing parts of the western and northern suburbs of the city to be without water since Thursday.
The graphic that is circulating is accompanied by a list of questions for Martin, who was labelled as a key figure in the large-scale water outages that have hit the metro in recent months.
“Now that the DA has confirmed reports from inside the water services department that bulk water supply is being sabotaged, we will ensure that ... questions are posed to him,” the preamble to the graphic states.
The seven questions ranged from asking if Martin was aware of any sabotage, to why the Chelsea Reservoir was not reconnected to the western supply system, leaving taps to stay dry for longer than necessary.
The set of questions and preamble were written by DA MPL Retief Odendaal.
According to the preamble, the Chelsea Reservoir was connected to the Nooitgedacht facility earlier in 2021 to ease pressure on the dams,
Nooitgedacht has two lines that supply the reservoir, with only one of the pipes bursting — the only one unable to be used.
“Surely this in itself constitutes a gross dereliction of duty and almost borderline wilful sabotage?” the preamble says.
Asked about the allegations, acting city manager Anele Qaba referred all questions to Bhanga or infrastructure and engineering political head Thsonono Buyeye.
Buyeye said engineers had found no evidence of sabotage.
“If people say they have inside information or reports that suggest sabotage, we plead with them to bring that information forward,” he said.
“We cannot take action without any evidence, and at this stage, there is no evidence to suggest sabotage.”
However, Buyeye said, the possibility of sabotage had not been ruled out completely, though they had received no substantial proof confirming foul play.
Asked about his name being circulated, Martin referred all questions to Buyeye before saying it was a political matter.
Buyeye said: “When there is a crisis, we must come together and understand how we are going to move forward instead of wildly pointing fingers.
“The insinuation is that a certain official is behind this, with no concrete evidence, and we want to caution people against spreading these unfounded allegations.
“You can’t just make wild allegations without substantiating them.
“Of course, if any credible evidence should come forward we will launch an investigation, but for now we cannot go around chasing ghosts.”
Odendaal said he had sent the same questions to Bhanga, who had promised to follow it up.
“I believe the questions were relevant, especially the Chelsea Reservoir issues,” he said.
“Why it was not fed from the western supply needs to be answered, or the other pipeline used connected to Nooitgedacht.”
Odendaal said he was eager to receive answers to his questions.
“We all are looking forward to finding out if there was a possibility of the reservoir to be filled from a source elsewhere, and if the answer is yes, then they need to explain why,” he said.
He said hard-hitting questions needed to be asked to determine if officials had been negligent.
During a media briefing on Monday, Bhanga said while he had no evidence of sabotage, it could not be ruled out.
“A full-scale investigation has been launched to determine the causes of this extended outage and the failure of monitoring systems to pick up on the crisis timeously.
“If this is proven to be the case, I will ensure that action is taken and [report] criminal charges against any individuals implicated.”
Bhanga said he would be available to comment on Wednesday.
However, when pushed, he declined to comment.
HeraldLIVE
Water blame game boils over and turns graphic
Image: 123RF/WEERAPAT KAITDUMRONG
The DA has called for heads to roll over the latest water outages in Nelson Mandela Bay, with the party placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of water and sanitation director Barry Martin.
But while mayor Nqaba Bhanga has said there is no evidence to suggest sabotage at this stage, dozens of DA members have gone ahead and circulated a graphic titled “Watergate”, demanding action against Martin.
The latest water outages were due to three bursts on a major pipeline and an electrical fault, causing parts of the western and northern suburbs of the city to be without water since Thursday.
The graphic that is circulating is accompanied by a list of questions for Martin, who was labelled as a key figure in the large-scale water outages that have hit the metro in recent months.
“Now that the DA has confirmed reports from inside the water services department that bulk water supply is being sabotaged, we will ensure that ... questions are posed to him,” the preamble to the graphic states.
The seven questions ranged from asking if Martin was aware of any sabotage, to why the Chelsea Reservoir was not reconnected to the western supply system, leaving taps to stay dry for longer than necessary.
The set of questions and preamble were written by DA MPL Retief Odendaal.
According to the preamble, the Chelsea Reservoir was connected to the Nooitgedacht facility earlier in 2021 to ease pressure on the dams,
Nooitgedacht has two lines that supply the reservoir, with only one of the pipes bursting — the only one unable to be used.
“Surely this in itself constitutes a gross dereliction of duty and almost borderline wilful sabotage?” the preamble says.
Asked about the allegations, acting city manager Anele Qaba referred all questions to Bhanga or infrastructure and engineering political head Thsonono Buyeye.
Buyeye said engineers had found no evidence of sabotage.
“If people say they have inside information or reports that suggest sabotage, we plead with them to bring that information forward,” he said.
“We cannot take action without any evidence, and at this stage, there is no evidence to suggest sabotage.”
However, Buyeye said, the possibility of sabotage had not been ruled out completely, though they had received no substantial proof confirming foul play.
Asked about his name being circulated, Martin referred all questions to Buyeye before saying it was a political matter.
Buyeye said: “When there is a crisis, we must come together and understand how we are going to move forward instead of wildly pointing fingers.
“The insinuation is that a certain official is behind this, with no concrete evidence, and we want to caution people against spreading these unfounded allegations.
“You can’t just make wild allegations without substantiating them.
“Of course, if any credible evidence should come forward we will launch an investigation, but for now we cannot go around chasing ghosts.”
Odendaal said he had sent the same questions to Bhanga, who had promised to follow it up.
“I believe the questions were relevant, especially the Chelsea Reservoir issues,” he said.
“Why it was not fed from the western supply needs to be answered, or the other pipeline used connected to Nooitgedacht.”
Odendaal said he was eager to receive answers to his questions.
“We all are looking forward to finding out if there was a possibility of the reservoir to be filled from a source elsewhere, and if the answer is yes, then they need to explain why,” he said.
He said hard-hitting questions needed to be asked to determine if officials had been negligent.
During a media briefing on Monday, Bhanga said while he had no evidence of sabotage, it could not be ruled out.
“A full-scale investigation has been launched to determine the causes of this extended outage and the failure of monitoring systems to pick up on the crisis timeously.
“If this is proven to be the case, I will ensure that action is taken and [report] criminal charges against any individuals implicated.”
Bhanga said he would be available to comment on Wednesday.
However, when pushed, he declined to comment.
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Latest Videos
Most Read
News
News
News
News
News