Camdeboo Municipality Water Challenges: partial briefing; Blue Drop Report: Department of Water Affairs admonished

Meeting report

Camdeboo Municipality, Eastern Cape: Challenges and constraints on water
Before the Camdeboo Municipality commenced its briefing on its challenges and constraints with water-related matters, Ms N Magadla (ANC, KZN) commented that she had expected the Mayor to be present to address the concerns of the Committee, and not only the technical manager.

Mr Ivor Berrington, Technical Manager, Camdeboo Municipality, confirmed that he was the only official representing the municipality at this briefing.

Mr G Mokgoro (ANC, Northern Cape) said it should be made clear, when municipalities were called upon to brief the Committee, that the political head of the institution must attend. Whilst it was acceptable for the political head such as the Mayor to be accompanied by the Technical Manager, and for this person to give a briefing, all questions had to be directed to the Mayor, who was ultimately accountable. Parliament had held a seminar recently on this very matter. Given the current problems in the country, the political leadership had to be much stronger and much more in tune with new developments.

Mr M Makhubela (COPE, Limpopo) asked to whom the Members could pose their questions today.

Mr O De Beer (COPE, Western Cape) thought that perhaps the communication between the Committee and the municipality should have been clearer, and it should be clearly outlined who was expected to attend. He agreed, however, that the political head needed to be present.

Mr Mokgoro said he was not suggesting that the report had to be rejected outright, and agreed with Mr De Beer that perhaps more clarity was needed as to what the Committee expected, and that whilst technical officials could attend, a senior political head also had to be in attendance.

The Chairperson asked Ms Magadla how she suggested that the Committee proceed.

Ms Magadla noted she had also dealt with matters related to inter-governmental relations and problems of non-co-operation. The Mayor usually addressed those kinds of questions, whilst other officials answered technical queries. She was reluctant to suggest that the presentation not be given.

Mr Mokgoro suggested that the Committee could listen to the presentation, but should not ask any questions. Instead, the Chairperson should write to the Mayor to advise that the question session would be arranged for a later date, given the Mayor’s absence, and explaining that the technical manager could not answer questions on political matters and processes.

The Chairperson agreed and allowed the presentation to continue. She ruled that questions from the Members would be written down, and should be answered by the Mayor at another meeting.

Mr Berrington then briefed the Committee, outlining the history of the municipality, and its population, and noting that the Mayoral Council for this municipality was based in the town of Graaf-Reinet. He outlined the water services situation over the whole municipality, and sewerage treatment works, and outlined the specific challenges for the three towns of Graaf-Reinet, Aberdeen and Nieu Bethesda (see attached presentation).

He then turned to the water-related issues for Camdeboo, and said the problems included unsustainable water supply, problems in retaining staff, particularly engineers and process controllers, limited funding for the Water Conservation and Demand Management Programme, and regulatory factors, which included over-regulation, and the high costs of compliance for this small municipality. He also noted that water and wastewater master plans needed to be upgraded, as well as storm water ingress to sewer systems, and the implementation and monitoring of bore holes required more funding. Some assets needed to be replaced. He pointed out that Camdeboo Municipality had limited grant funding as it did not have a social component in its grants. The municipality also faced problems around the control of industries, especially abattoirs. On a positive note, Mr Berrington was pleased with the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) rapid response unit, and the assistance that it had given to the municipality.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked if there were any questions of clarity. No other questions would be taken at this point.

Mr Mokgoro said there were obviously many challenges and problems which only the Mayor and Municipal Council, as decision-makers, could address, including the problem of skills development.

The Chairperson assured Mr Berrington that the Committee was not trying to be difficult, but it was insistent that matters be handled in the proper way.  Another session would be arranged to deal with the questions.

Blue Drop Reports: Briefing by the Department of Water Affairs
The Chairperson said that the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) had been asked to address the Committee on the Blue Drop Reports. The political heads were absent. In addition, she noted that the Director-General, the Accounting Officer, was not present, and instead the Acting Deputy Director-General for Policy and Regulations was present. She felt that this Committee was being undermined when Departments not sending their political or administrative heads to address questions.

Mr Makhubela was reluctant to listen to the presentation without the political head for the Department present.

Mr De Beer noted that this was not the first time that the DWA was making a presentation, and it ought to be well aware of the protocol for representation. He too felt the oversight role of the Committee was being undermined. The Committee needed to deal with political, not merely technical issues. He thought it was unacceptable, and suggested that departments would continue to send lower-ranking officials unless the Committee drew a clear line.

The Chairperson felt the select committees were not taken seriously enough, especially when compared to the portfolio committees, and this was unacceptable. She too reiterated that the DWA should know the protocol. She asked for comment.

Mr Mokgoro emphasised that the political head of the Department needed to be present. He was not sure that the Acting Deputy Director General understood the concerns.  

Mr Helgaard Muller, Acting Deputy Director General, Department of Water Affairs, apologised to the Committee and said he fully understood its concerns. The Director General had been unable to be present, as this meeting clashed with another, but he would convey the concerns to both the Director General and Minister.

Mr De Beer proposed that the DWA representatives should be sent away. He had wanted to engage with the Minister on issues arising from the Committee’s recent oversight visit.

Ms Magadla supported this proposal and agreed that there were certain questions that only the Minister could answer.

Mr Mokgoro said the Committee was in touch with realities on the ground, and cited the fact that during recent hurricanes in America, the US President had made himself available to the people.

Mr Muller apologised for asking a direct question and wondered if the invitation had been precise in specifically requesting the presence of the Minister or Director General.

The Chairperson said Mr Muller must request sight of the invitation from his own Department and was offended that he had asked this question, as she wondered if he was seeking to blame the Committee.

Mr Muller assured her that this was not the case, and apologised for asking the question.

The Chairperson maintained that the Committee was correct in requiring the political head to be present. She had been going to ask Mr Muller to give the presentation, and for the questions to be withheld, but given his attitude, she was tempted to ask him to leave. However, she was concerned about waste of time, cost of flights and government funding.

Mr De Beer asked when the Committee would have another opportunity to engage the Department.  

Mr Vincent Morene, Parliamentary Support Officer, DWA, suggested that perhaps the Committee could note its questions in writing, for the Minister’s response.

Mr Mokgoro felt it would be preferable for the Committee to hold personal engagement as he did not think that written responses were effective.

Mr Makhubela agreed with the suggestion that the Department should be sent away.

Ms Magadla said water was a basic necessity and water issues were critical, and agreed with Mr Makhubela.

The Chairperson said that the Committee, collectively, had decided to send the DWA away, and said it must return to give the presentation together with more senior political heads. She also reminded the Technical Manager of Camdeboo Municipality to return to this Committee, together with the Mayor.

Adoption of Committee Minutes
The Chairperson tabled the draft Committee Minutes of several meetings.

The draft Minutes of 15 May, 22 May, 29 May, 7 August, and 14 August were adopted by Members.

Other Committee business
The Chairperson said the Committee needed to discuss another visit to Moeshoe, and commented that positive experiences were gained from visiting communities.

Ms Magadla suggested that the Chairperson of the House should be invited to visit Moeshoe as he was very interested in the matter.

Mr Makhubela said he had received a SMS telling him that a criminal case related to car theft had been rejected. He wanted the Minister to investigate the matter further.

The Committee Secretary told the Members that nominations for the Agriculture Marketing Council opened on 1 August 2012 but, given that the Committee was busy with the oversight trip, this matter had been put on hold. He had spoken to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to negotiate an extension for nominations from the Committee. If that was granted, he would forward all relevant information to Members. Members could send any nominations via his office and he would ensure that they were forwarded to the Department.

Ms Magadla felt it would be more proper to send the nominations via the Chairperson, and it was agreed that all nominations must be directed to the Chairperson before being sent to the Department.

The meeting was adjourned.