Nandoni Complaint Resolution Committee Petition; Garankuwa Residents Petition

Meeting report

Status Quo report on Nandoni Dam issues
Ms Shereen Dawood, Content Advisor, took the Members of the Committee through the progress report on the compensation payable to the communities that were adversely affected by the construction of the Nandoni Dam in the Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province.

Background
The construction of the dam affected communal land and families who had lost the rights to use the land. The affected communities then lodged complaints with the Office of the Public Protector (OPP) with the view that certain issues were not adequately addressed during the implementation of the project. The members of the community were not satisfied with the compensation offered by the Department of Water and Sanitation. The OPP investigated the complaints and the Department of Water and Sanitation sought to address the concerns raised in the OPP report. One of the recommendations was to see if the compensation paid was sufficient. When constructing the dam, the extent of the land effected by the dam was confirmed and what was on the effected land. All crops, trees and other aspects mentioned in the OPP’s report was factored in and the beneficiaries were compensated according to what was lost.

Progress on compensation to the affected
During the verification of amounts to be paid to the affected parties, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) experienced challenges in obtaining the information required to determine the compensation to the affected communities. However, the DWS has progressed in making payments to the affected despite their challenges.
Compensation paid to the affected beneficiaries was to replace trees that were lost due to the construction of the dam, and other agricultural aspects. This includes loss of food production at the time of construction. Extensive consultation took place between all relevant parties during the construction phase of the dam from 1999-2005.

Trust funds
The DWS paid the compensation due to the relevant Traditional Authorities for the loss of land (communal land) in 2001-2004 to the Trust Accounts of the Traditional Authorities. In 2017, audited financial statements were requested. The Traditional Councils indicated that they did not agree with the compensation offered for the communal land. The Office of the Valuer-General sent a report and additional compensation was paid to the Traditional Councils. However, the Traditional Councils requested that they prefer to be valued by Black Dot Consultants. When the outcome was received and the Office of the Valuer-General was requested to determine a market value for the affected communal land in the year 2022.

Refurbishment of houses
The refurbishment of houses is underway. Houses in two of the five villages have been completed with the rest to be completed in December 2022. The delay was due to inclement weather.

Installation of water pipes and taps in residential areas
The bulk infrastructure for water reticulation to the villages is being constructed by the Vhembe District Municipality (85% of the project). If everything goes according to the plan, the DWS will complete the reticulation and yard connection project by November 2022.

Bridge, debushing and road construction
The road construction will be completed by 30 November 2022. The bridge construction will be completed by 30 April 2023 depending on the award of a national tender for precast beams. The activity to remove the stones from the stands is planned to commence in November 2022.

Unrelocated homesteads and fencing
An investigation done by DWS indicated that the remaining homesteads were located outside the borders of the Nandoni Government Waterworks. These homesteads will therefore not be relocated. It is no longer DWS policy to fence off dams because of the schedule 1 which is meant to ensure unrestricted access to the water in terms of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 and resource management plans.

Relocation of graves
The DWS has made an allowance for 12 graves in the Bill of Quantities. The unit has requested the positions of the graves through the Project Steering Committee (PSC) before embarking on the process. The PCS has promised to show the locations within two weeks, before the end of June 2022. Once this has been established, it will take three months to relocate.

Conclusion
The Department can report that the concerns raised by the community have been addressed and all other outstanding issues are being attended to. The Nandoni Task Team will hold a meeting with the affected representatives to present the status of the project by October.

Discussion
Mr A Tseki (ANC) said that other Committees should be included in this discussion but should be led by the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation. The report omitted the years 2010-2019, which was worrisome. The report should be improved to show what the Department has done thus far. A meeting should then be scheduled with the individuals in Limpopo and engage with those communities with the Department present. This would help with the closure of the issue.

Mr F Xasa (ANC, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) agreed with Mr Tseki about meeting with individuals in the communities and other Committees being part of the discussion. There were projects but no timeframes, and when there were timeframes and they were not met, no explanation was given. This causes frustration. Public funds might not be given the value that is expected. Knowing what is happening on the ground and how it can be changed is important. People should be held accountable.

Ms R Mohlala (EFF) asked how far the process was with Nandoni. In 2020, people in the villages complained that when the project started they were removed from the land they were planting. After this, the compensation that they were offered was not what was agreed upon. People could not be undermined like this. How would these people support their family if they only received R6 824? The reimbursement was not enough. How must people live with this kind of money?

Chairperson Semenya agreed with Mr Tseki and Mr Xasa. There needed to be a meeting with the petitioners, the Department and individuals in the communities to see what had been implemented from the issues raised. This was the only way to lay the matter to rest.

Mr A Matumba (EFF) said the Nandoni issue was very painful. People were dying because this project was not finished. He requested that there be clear implementation timelines indicating what was happening when and how it would happen. People needed water and water infrastructure.

Mr K Ceza (EFF) said that provinces and their municipalities had been useless which was why the issue had now reached Parliament. The issue of oversight needed to include the areas where people are actually being removed. Sometimes people are being removed from areas because there is an obsession with removing people from those areas rather than for economic reasons. He agreed that timelines should be set and adhered to. The fact that external service providers are doing these projects should also be looked at. Capacity should be built in the departments and municipalities. The division of revenue to municipalities should also be challenged, as they only received about ten percent of what they should be getting.

Ms A Buthelezi (IFP) said that the construction of the dam had been premised on the fact that it would provide economic empowerment opportunities in the local communities around the dam, yet the local communities had been excluded from the land and the economic activities surrounding it. There needed to be an investigation into what was planned to include the local communities for the economic activities that were provided by the dam. What plans were there to rectify these exclusions?

Ms N Sihlwayi (ANC) said that it was important to appreciate the work that the Department had done, but it was equally important to note the shortcomings. The report identified 33 villages and later on referred to 53 villages. Where did this expansion come from? She requested more information on the promised compensation. This should include the areas such as land and houses. There were houses with structural defects. Policies and legislation should be considered in this regard. What happens when an individual receives a house free of charge and there is something wrong with the windows? Who should they contact and who should fix this? She suggested at least three days of oversight at Nandoni.
 
Ms S Mokgotho (EFF) said there must be a tim frame for when this project will end. How many houses had been built to replace homes lost due to the construction of the dam?

Mr G Hendricks (Al Jama-ah) said this should be in line with the adjustment budget. Important issues could not just be left in the air. These grievances need to be addressed. The Committee needed to quantify what compensation was justifiable and this should be included in the adjustment budget. There should be specific line items, such as housing. If petitioners come, they will know that there is something, even though it is not possible to put everything into the adjustment budget this year.
 
Chairperson Mashego said there was a need to do oversight at Nandoni to assess the validity of the Department’s report versus the communities petition.

Mr Tseki understood that the Committee would visit Nandoni together with the Department to report on the status of the community grievance. It should not just be an oversight visit; the Committee should go there and meet the community with the Department.

Ms Mohlala said that grant money received by the Vhembe District Municipality should be interrogated. It had also been directed to redirect funds. These funds should be investigated.

Ms G Tseke (ANC) agreed that an urgent application must be made to the House for a meeting with all the strategic stakeholders to urgently address the matter of Nandoni.

The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation was excused.

Garankuwa petition
Mr Sabelo Mnguni, Content Advisor, took the members of the Committee through the Garankuwa petition. The petition concerned four properties belonging to the affordable homes rental stock inherited by the Northwest Housing Corporation (NWHC) from the former Bophuthatswana Housing Corporation. NWHC had encouraged the occupants to purchase for ownership around 1999. The occupants had complied but between paying the NWHC and receiving title deeds, they had been evicted by people claiming to have bought the properties from the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). The occupants had approached both NWHC and CTMM but no progress had been made. CTMM and the Public Protector had done investigations which had made clear recommendations for remedial action but nothing had been done. The petitioners asked that Parliament intervene because so much time had been wasted, huge damages had been caused and businesses had lost millions. They asked for the return of their houses, amicable settlement of damages caused and the release of the title deeds to their properties.

Discussion
Chairperson Semenya suggested that the Committee approach CTMM and NWHC as well as the Gauteng and North West provincial governments and the Department of Human Settlements to get more information on these issues and enable the Committee to decide whether the matter would require an oversight visit.

Ms Mokgotho, Mr C Malematja (ANC) and Mr Tseki all agreed with the Chairperson.

Ms Sihlwayi added that the Department should help the Committee understand the objectives of the NWHC with regard to the legislation and policies that supported housing issues, which had undergone major changes over the years.

The meeting was adjourned.