Rand Water rents out 17 vehicles for Metsi-a-Lekoa to curb water losses

Vanderbijlpark - The Executive Mayor of Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), Cllr. Sipho Radebe together with the MMC Basic Services, Cllr Vincent Jones unveiled a fleet of 17 service delivery vehicles at Metsi-a-Lekoa offices yesterday. The vehicles have been rented by Rand Water as part of a resolution taken by the South African Cabinet to place ELM under Section 63 intervention of the National Water Services Act.

This meant that the National Government effectively took over the Water Services Authority Function of the Municipality and all its ancillary responsibilities. In light of the intervention, the Department of Water and Sanitation appointed Rand Water as an implementing agency to affect Section 63 intervention objectives.

With the understanding that the Cabinet decision came at the backdrop of the implementation of Section 139 (1) b of the constitution by the Gauteng Provincial Government, the municipality has committed to fully cooperate with the injunction.

This was further necessitated by the fact that the municipality is in dire need of additional resources, the municipality welcomes the collective effort that inter-Governmental Framework tabled to ensure a total conformance to the intervention process.

In his opening remarks and welcoming the Executive Mayor to the event, MMC Vincent Jones said that the unveiling marks the beginning of great things to come in Emfuleni.

“This is an important and historic day where we get to unveil cars rented for us by Rand Water in terms of the Section 63 intervention. With these cars, we commit ourselves to accelerating the turnaround time and improve the level of service delivery for our communities,” Jones said.  

A number of processes were initiated under the intervention and today’s vehicle unveiling forms part of them. The intervention has delivered 17 rented vehicles for a period of three (3) months. The 17 vehicles will be shared amongst the 3 water depots in the municipality. Vehicles will also be allocated to 12 water teams to contain water losses and have a quicker turnaround time on all water complaints.

In a bid to decisively deal with vehicle shortages at Metsi-a-Lekoa, the municipality plans to procure thirty-five (35) service delivery vehicles for both water and sanitation sections. This will be for permanent reception at Metsi-a-Lekoa.

Addressing the water section teams and members of the media, Mayor Radebe started by submitting an apology for the Department of Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, Mr. David Mahlobo for his absence due to other pressing commitments.

The Mayor further congratulated all the drivers for passing the competency tests to be certified drivers of the vehicles.

“As the Executive Mayor, I welcome this fleet of vehicles handed over to us by Rand Water. I can now safely say no more delays on water queries turnaround time due to transport challenges. No more hampering of service delivery on our end, Radebe remarked.

Mayor Radebe said that he is humbled by the ongoing efforts by other spheres of government to capacitate the municipality and ensuring that it keeps to the promise of providing quality services to its communities.

In closing, the Mayor called on all water teams to match the effort made by the Department of Water and Sanitation through Rand Water by doubling their work effort.

“We understand that these 17 cars are still not sufficient to cover all areas and their problems however, communities would not understand that, all they want is being serviced adequately. That means more work effort on our part, let this day mark the first of many where Emfuleni communities get the services they deserve,” Executive Mayor Radebe concluded.