Gauteng municipalities spent R2 367 014 126,30 over five years on hiring water tankers, funds which could have been used to improve service delivery. This information was revealed in a reply to the Democratic Alliance’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mzi Khumalo.
Since 2018, the following amount of money has been spent on renting water tankers:
| Rand West | R0,00 |
| Mogale City | R260 285 713,84 |
| Merafong | R9 365 748 ,41 |
| Lesedi Local Municipality | R3 732 400,00 |
| Joburg | R306 381 951,36 |
| City if Ekurhuleni | R135 326 540,44 |
| Tshwane | R1 661 287 520,65 |
| Total | R2 367 014 126,30 |
This year, Mogale City stopped renting water tankers and procured their own. The DA demands that MEC Khumalo urgently intervene in this situation and assist municipalities in procuring their own water tankers to save costs.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, it became evident that having access to clean drinking water is essential to prevent the spread of Covid and other water-borne diseases.
Through all the mechanisms in place, we will apply pressure on the MEC to assist municipalities in formulating a plan that ensures that more money is made available for procuring resources for basic service delivery instead of outsourcing.