The Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in Mpumalanga has refuted claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that it purchased a non-functional water tank worth 42 Million.

This was after the DA called on the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality Manager, Jasper Ngobeni, to institute an investigation into the water storage tank that was purchased in 2015. 

In a press statement, DA councillor Canuel Mnisi said the former manager for Technical Services at the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Emmanuel Makhavhu, stated that the water tank is dry because of illegal connections on the main line. 

Furthermore, Mnisi said that an investigation conducted by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) revealed that the municipality purchased the water tank with the intention to service the community of Xanthia in 2015. However, despite spending millions on this steel reservoir, it did not service the community.  

In response to these allegations, the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality spokesperson, Fhumulani Thovhakale, stated that the municipality did not spend a cent in the procurement of the water reservoir in question. It was a donation by the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, he said.

Thovhakale told African Times that the municipality has appointed a contractor to replace pipes that were tampered with due to illegal connections at the reservoir and that the project should be completed by the end of this month.

However, Mnisi disputed the Municipality’s version. He said the people of Xanthia in Bushbuckridge share water from man-made boreholes with livestock. 

During an oversight visit, Mnisi said they discovered that the people of Xanthia are forced to push wheelbarrows for five kilometers to access clean water or use the water from a man made borehole which they share with cows.

The DA councillor added that there are no pipes in the village, and that the water tanks have never been operational since they were installed in 2015.