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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has learnt that Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has hired ex-Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti as Chairperson of a newly established Ministerial Advisory Committee on Water Services.

By invoking S76(1) of the Water Service Act, Sisulu is able to bypass Ministerial Handbook staff limits and continue to stack her political deck by establishing committees over which she has sole discretion on appointments and remuneration.

This new committee is additional to the Advisory Committee on Water Services that already exists within the Department on which Mo Shaik now sits.

Ex-minister Nkwinti has been appointed on a long-term basis as Chairperson, linked to the term of the Minister, and will earn R2.4 million per annum for working for a maximum of 15 days per month (part-time).

This is a travesty.

Last year, the Office of the Public Protector found that Nkwinti had violated both the Executive Ethics Code and the Constitution.  This after the DA lodged a complaint alleging that Nkwinti had influenced his department to buy Bekendvlei Farm in 2011 for R97 million and subsequently allocate it to his friend and colleague, Errol Velile Present. Present, an ANC staffer was subsequently fired after he was arrested for alleged involvement in cash-in-transit heists.

Nkwinti was further embroiled in a number of questionable and potentially irregular transactions undertaken by the Department during his tenure, including the purchase of Fish River Resort in 2017 despite warnings by experts that this land parcel would cost the Department R33.9 million annually in operating losses.

The four members of the Water Advisory Committee that will serve under Nkwinti are as follows:

1. Mphumzi Mdekazi (R1 716 040 p.a/15 days p.m). Mdekazi is from the ANC’s AB Xuma branch in the Western Cape and is a vocal party supporter who previously served as Sports Committee Researcher at Parliament. It is alleged by both internal whistleblowers who have spoken to the DA and widely publicised press reports that Mdekazi, who boasts the reputation of Sisulu’s bully-boy, personally hand-picked members of the Department’s National Rapid Response Task Team, as well as members of this latest S76 Committee on the basis of their ability to garner political support ahead of the ANC’s 2022 elective conference.
2. Clifford Derrick (R1 716 040 p.a/15 days p.m). Derrick is a Kenyan Documentary Film Producer who previously served as a camera man for the Department according to the information given to the DA by whistleblowers. Derrick is alleged to be close to Mdekazi.
3. Putco Mafani (R1 716 040 p.a/15 days p.m). Mafani is a radio presenter and previously worked as the chief public relations officer to Kaizer Chiefs Football Club. Mafani is also the owner of Putcomafani Consulting, which offers, amongst other services, wedding planning, online media management, and motivational talks.
4. Ritshuri (R1 716 040 p.a/15 days p.m). Little is known about Ritshuri, other than as Chairperson of the Giyani Business Forum, Ritshuri has previously called on ex Minister Nkwiniti to “unlock funds to complete the Giyani water project” in Limpopo.

These five appointees will be responsible for the following:

• Setting of national standards and norms for tariff in respect of water services.
• Preparation of a water development plan by water services authorities.
• A regulatory framework for water services institutions and intermediaries.
• Establishment and disestablishment of water boards.
• Monitoring and interventions with regards to water services institutions.

Unsatisfied with the existing litany of incompetent and unqualified cadres already recruited - including failed ex-minister Bathabile Dlamini and failed ex-NDPP Menzi Simelane - both of whom were subject to scathing findings by the Constitutional Court, names such as UCT Fees Must Fall Leader Chumani Maxwele; former COPE regional leader Mbulelo Ncedana; and former PAC leader Thami ka Plaatjie, also form part of the NRRTT which cost the taxpayer over R13.9 million per year.

These latest appointments take the South African people for fools and spits in the face of all honest and hardworking citizens struggling to make ends meet in the face of our crumbling economy.

The DA will once again write to the Public Service Commission imploring them to investigate and we will proceed to mobilise South Africans to publicly oppose these appointments.

Issued by DA