Mokonyane withholding Blue and Green Drop Reports to hide poor ANC performance 

18 January 2016

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, is deliberately concealing the ANC’s mismanagement of national water infrastructure ahead of the 2016 Local Government Elections (LGE 2016) by denying public access to the 2014 Blue and Green Drop Reports. 

This is contrary to the spirit of the Blue and Green Drop Programmes, which are aimed at equipping the public with the knowledge to keep the relevant authorities accountable by providing information on the management and health of our water treatment plants and wastewater treatment works respectively. 

The only logical conclusion is that the Minister is attempting to hide the dismal performance of ANC municipalities by not making these reports readily available. The South African public needs to be fully apprised of the state of our water affairs especially considering that parts of South Africa are currently undergoing water restrictions that have been compounded by a severe drought. 

It is therefore imperative that Minister Mokonyane release these reports immediately in compliance with the application submitted in terms of the Promotion to Access to Information Act (PAIA) by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 16 November 2015. Despite the deadline for the application lapsing in December, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is yet to furnish the public at large with the full report/(s) or any communication as to why this has not been done. 

The DA was forced to resort to submitting an application in terms of PAIA as a result of the Minister’s constant delaying tactics. The reports, which were completed by the deadline of June 30 2015, are yet to be made freely available. 

The Minister has subsequently taken the step of providing the individual reports to the respective municipalities, but has failed to release a full national report as has been the practice in the past. 

The DA is in the process of reviewing the reports of the municipalities it governs and will be making this information publically available in the coming days. We are committed to transparent and accountable government. 

If the Minister has nothing to hide on the part of the ANC she will follow our example and release the full reports forthwith. 

Statement issued by Leon Basson MP, DA Deputy Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation, 18 January 2016