Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Faith Muthambi says delays in the installation of water tankers might have contributed to an escalation of people infected with coronavirus in the Polokwane Local Municipality, Limpopo.
Muthambi has received a brief on the provision of water and incomplete projects during her COVID-19 oversight programme in the Polokwane Local Municipality on Monday.
With 223 active cases of coronavirus and eleven deaths, Polokwane Local Municipality has the highest number of active cases and deaths than other municipalities in Limpopo.
The municipality has not yet installed water tankers to areas without water to respond to the COVID-19 national disaster. Portfolio Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has held a briefing with the municipality to get progress on mechanism put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Committee Chairperson Faith Muthambi says government officials must respond urgently to the needs of the people to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“Disaster was declared on the 26th of March, you find a situation wherein water tankers are not yet installed that definitely contributes (to infections). We are dealing with the national state of disaster, so the way our officials respond to this pandemic should be in a different way and should be urgent because this is a state of disaster, so we urge the municipality to make sure that they install all those water tankers.”
Water tanker contract
Muthambi, however, expressed concern that only one contractor, Batshuma has been awarded every project in the Polokwane Local Municipality.
“ I don’t want to get into these things of who does what, but I’m worried chairperson of the portfolio committee, why they gave one contractor to do the whole City of Polokwane.”
Incomplete projects
Meanwhile, the Executive Mayor of Polokwane Local Municipality says they need R300 million to complete road projects which have been left incomplete by the provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure.
Nkadimeng says sixteen road projects have been left incomplete in the municipality. “We have incomplete projects most of those projects are projects which are falling outside the municipal unbitten terms of D roads which are now the custodian of road agency Limpopo. We have estimated that for us to be able to finish the sixteen that we started the municipality needs around R300 million hence there is a request that was made by the council to the national treasury for a concession of an amount of R300 million in total.”
Muthambi says the Portfolio Committee will prioritise the COVID-19 oversight to municipalities under Capricorn and Sekhukhune District municipalities.
