NEHAWU rejects the angencification of the state through a creation of another agency - The South African Water Resources Infrastructure Agency
Friday 30, 2024
As NEHAWU, we have consistently been opposing the agentification of the state and outsourcing of government functions, as they have hollowed-out the state capacity to provide quality service to our people. The establishment of this new agency is yet another creation of unaccountable agency and the outsourcing of government functions that undermines the quest to build a capable developmental state responsive to the needs of our people particularly the working class and the poor.
The said agency is proposed to develop and manage national water resources infrastructure to: ensure a sustainable, equitable and reliable supply of water from national water resources infrastructure; meet obligations set out in Sections 10, 11, 24, 27(1)(b) and 27(2) of the Constitution as well as the national and regional social and economic objectives of national policy; utilising its asset base and cash-flow to raise funds to develop national water resources infrastructure for social and economic development purposes; provide, operate and maintain the national water resources infrastructure and fund the costs thereof including performing the Treaty and non-Treaty functions currently being performed by the TCTA as more fully set out in the shareholder’s compact and perform any other functions that the Minister may direct it to perform in terms of section 103(2) of the National Water Act.
As NEHAWU, we are highly disappointed with the signing of the bill by the President into law given our experience with the establishment of these agencies as they are detrimental to the State and its workforce. Unfortunately, the signing of this bill occurs at a time when the union is waging a struggle on consultation with the Department of Water and Sanitation that unilaterally transferred our members and workers into the Catchment Management Agency [CMA] without finalising a signed collective agreement at the Departmental Bargaining Chamber as envisaged by the Labour Relations Act.
The unilateral transfer of our members and workers to the CMA has disrupted their livelihood and recently in the Northern Cape province, our members were served with eviction letters ordering them to vacate their current accommodation and at the same time compelled to sign the Catchment Management Agency performance agreements by provincial managers which have not been discussed and concluded at the Departmental Bargaining Chamber.
Equally, our experience with the Border Management Agency [BMA] is a testament to the fact that these numerous agencies do not have a developmental agenda instead have served to weaken the capacity of the State. The BMA has lost a lot of money through outsourcing of the payroll system and all institutions they sourced could not deliver but they pocketed thousands of rands. Our members and workers at BMA have been subjected to late payments of salaries, wrong tax deductions, none payment of third parties [bonds, policies and pension fund].
The creation of these endless agencies has not achieved improved quality service to our people in order to better their lives particularly, the working class and the poor as well as contributing to the building of a capable and developmental state that intervenes to societal needs. Instead, they become centres of milking the millions of taxpayers for corruption and self-accumulation as opposed developmental and improving service for the benefit of communities they serve.
We call on the President to delay and rethink the implementation of this Act and channel state resources to the rebuilding and resourcing of the public service, full implementation of the National Health Insurance, provisioning of proper housing for public servants as they don’t qualify for bank loans and RDP houses, public transport and the revitalisation of social infrastructure.
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Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat
Zola Saphetha (General Secretary) at 082 558 5968;
December Mavuso (Deputy General Secretary) at 082 558 5969;
Lwazi Nkolonzi (NEHAWU National Spokesperson) at 081 558 2335 or email: lwazin@nehawu.org.za Visit https://www.nehawu.org.za