1. (a) In May 2022, the Minister issued a directive to Amatola Water in terms of Section 41 (1) and Section 63 (1) of the Water Services Act, to urgently intervene and address water shortages in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Municipality (NMBMM) owing to the ongoing drought. The required scope of work for the intervention was to address the following:
b) The outcomes of the intervention include:
The Amatola Water Board's approach has been collaborative and initiating a partnership with the NMBM to identify and unblock challenges. The experts have been using their experience and skills to amongst others; advice; share best practices; anticipate challenges and propose common solutions. Close collaboration with the Political Oversight Committee; City officials and organized business has contributed a great deal in moving Day Zero much further from becoming a reality.
2. a) Please refer to the response above in question 1 (b).
b) The total expenditure that was incurred by the Board in relation to the NMBMM water crisis is as follows:
Financial Year 2022 |
R305 338. 58 |
Financial Year 2023 |
R282 550. 74 |
Travel costs |
R112 409. 78 |
Total costs: |
R700 409. 10 |
3. The Department did not instruct any independent auditor and/or monitoring group to oversee the expenditure of Amatola Water Board. Board members are paid based on the DWS Policy on Board Practices and the remuneration of board members of entities reporting to the Minister of Water and Sanitation. According to this policy, Board Members are remunerated on an hourly rate basis for meetings attended. The maximum number of hours that may be remunerated per month for the Chairperson of the Board is 50 hours and Board Members is 40 hours. Any additional hours to be remunerated such as may arise in extraordinary circumstances, should be approved by the Minister prior.
---00O00---