Lindiwe Sisulu Hell Week

Minister mired in controversy over mistakes made on water boards and his team

The Minister for Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, withdrew from key ministerial decisions this week, the latest in relation to the Sedibeng Water board in the Free State.

Last week, Sedibeng Water board members lost their jobs after Sisulu wrote to tell them that their term had come. to a premature end.

But Sisulu made a turn this week, and told City Press that it had been a mistake to deliver the dismissal letters in the midst of a national state of disaster.

The matter is now off the table.

Sisulu also withdrew another letter, dated April 15, which was leaked, stating that its ministerial water services advisory group, known as the National Rapid Response Task Force (NRRTT), would be dissolved.

This, he said, was because the members had allegedly become rebels and engaged in corrupt activities.

It was also falsely claimed, he said, that some members were raising funds for their campaign for the ANC presidency in 2022.

Critics pointed out that the legal reasons presented for the dissolution of the members of the water board were flawed and unsustainable, since it questioned the validity of the decisions made by the board since their appointment.

In addition, board members were not called to make representations before making the decision.

The reverse withdrawal of the board members came along with the suspension by Sisulu of Vuyo Zitumane, executive director of Amatola Water in the Eastern Cape, which is under investigation for maladministration.

His suspension has exposed a string of damning allegations that Sisulu’s aides had business interests in the functioning of the water boards and sought to influence operational decisions.

Last weekend, Sisulu ended the term of the Amatola Water board and placed the entity under administration.

North West-based Magalies Water is also hanging on a thread, according to the communication, seen by City Press, which was addressed to the acting director general of the water and sanitation department, Mbulelo Tshangana.

However, the department told City Press that the Magalies Water board has not been dissolved.

How the Sedibeng board was dissolved

Letters dated April 26 – titled Appreciation of service as ordinA member of the board of the Sedibeng Water board was sent to the board members.

In them, Sisulu said that his appointment by former Minister Gugile Nkwinti, slated to run from May last year to April 2023, had to be canceled.

“It has struck me that the appointment of the Sedibeng Water board was not rectified [sic] for the fifth cabinet, therefore, I have decided to start the process of naming a new board for Sedibeng Water again, ”wrote Sisulu.

She said an instruction had already been issued to the department to immediately begin the process of appointing a new board, adding: “It should be noted that his term will end in late April.”

But this week, the minister’s spokesman, McIntosh Polela, said the letters were later withdrawn and that “they should not have been communicated to board members in the midst of a disaster.”

When asked why it had taken the minister more than a year to conclude that the legitimacy of the junta could not be defended, Polela said: “The minister had to take his time to make a decision, in the interest of the organization and the sector. We are not judging the professionalism of individual board members. On the contrary, they have done their job, ”he said.

Internal documents showed that, in October, Sisulu had already decided to bring to the Cabinet “all the meetings that were not approved … to be regularized.”

According to a letter sent to Lepelle Northern Water in Limpopo, the minister wanted to have all the necessary information ready by the beginning of November.

Since only eight of the 10 Sedibeng Water board members received the termination letters, including one who had resigned, perceptions that a purge was taking place, said a board member, who spoke to City Press. on condition of anonymity.

The person described the dissolution of the board as “collateral damage,” as a result of the consequences of the NRRTT, where the two representatives who had worked very well with the board, Mogomotsi Mogodiri and Lekgotla Saidetlise, had been fired.

The consequences of NRRTT

Sisulu had previously rejected allegations that its NRRTT advisory group for water services was a vehicle for sponsorship and corruption, and was linked to alleged plans to pressure it to become president of the ANC in 2022.

But in a letter dated April 15, the minister sang a different tune, revealing that the NRRTT had apparently become dishonest, and therefore the structure should be dissolved.

She said the team had been conceptualized to respond to community needs related to service delivery, and the lack of them, within the sector.

However, he added, he had been struck by the fact that “some people within the collective should tarnish the image of the minister, the NRRTT and good government.”

Read: Sisulu: stop evictions and protect the water supply

“These activities of these members left me with another perception: that some members joined the NRRTT to pursue commercial interests and / or the easy accumulation of wealth at the expense of good cause,” he continued.

“I was deliberately silent when I realized that some were trying to push the ‘campaign and ambitions of the minister for the 2022 national conference’, all without my knowledge as a minister.”

Sisulu said the people involved in these activities had toured the country “requesting agreements and financial support.”

She said she was also prosecuting criminal charges and that the NRRTT would be dissolved “with immediate effect.”

However, Polela denied this week that the group has been dissolved.

On April 17, according to the communication shared by NRRTT’s WhatsApp group, all members were instructed to cancel all their activities and attend a special video conference meeting “by order of the minister.”

During the meeting, an audio recording was played, which City Press listened to, in which members were told that they had “stabbed the minister in the back”, despite the efforts he made to get them to join them. , and those guilty of misconduct. They were warned to come forward voluntarily and confess.

The Case of Saidetlise and Mogodiri

City Press has seen copies of letters sent by Tshangana and Sisulu, leading to the sacking of Saidetlise.

In the letters there were two accusations: that Saidetlise proposed service providers to an executive of the water board and that he had illegally recorded telephone conversations with the minister.

In one of the WhatsApp communications between Sisulu and Saidetlise, he tried to explain the phone recordings, but the minister told him that “f ** *k off “and delete your number.

Saidetlise worked closely with Sedibeng Water as part of its NRRTT duties in the Free State.

He told City Press that his communication with the minister was a private matter. However, he denied having recorded it and said that his phone had an application that recorded all calls.

People close to him said the allegations that he had proposed service providers to an executive director of the water board were incorrect, adding that it was, in fact, the official who made an offer to take companies from Saidetlise.

A voice, said to be that of the official, whose name is known by City Press, can be heard in an audio recording confirming to Sayetlise that the agreement they had was not “fraud”.

Although it was unclear what charges were made against Mogodiri, City Press saw an email communication directing him to return the vehicle he was using.

The instruction came a few days after he was unceremoniously expelled from the WhatsApp group at NRRTT.

By April 13, the NRRTT already had new members, including former ANC deputies Duduzile Manana and Deborah Raphuti.

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