'Water tanker mafia' creating instability in Tshwane so they can benefit - OUTA
The Money Show talks to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse's Wayne Duvenage about the trouble the so-called water tanker mafia is causing for the Tshwane authorities.
Residents surrounding a water tanker In Olievenhoutsbosch. Image: City Of Tshwane on Facebook
Various parts of the country are under water stress, and the use of water tankers to supply residents is giving more opportunities to the so-called water tanker mafias to benefit from municipalities' problems.
In Tshwane, MMC for Utilities Themba Fosi has said the fact of this mafia operating in the capital city is resulting in harmful effects being felt across the metro, reports BusinessLIVE.
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An estimated R98 million is spent on water tankers in a year.
According to Fosi there were a number of areas where water pipes and valves had been tampered with and broken.
He said they rely heavily on the police to do the necessary investigations.
Having to police this criminal activity is part of what is a very serious problem says Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).
"The way to manage it obviously is to put these specialised task teams in with Business Against Crime and other entities and do the interlligence, find the people are doing this and apprehend them. We need consequence management now around this."
"These mafias are sometimes very closely linked to the councillors or people who have decision-making powers. It doesn't bode well for the city or the residents; the only people making money are the tanking services, and that is the mafia."
Wayne Duvenage, CEO - Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse
Duvenage notes that executive mayor Cilliers Brink's efforts to clean up are meeting with resistance from these kinds of elements, starting in the waste retrieval sector.
"You find connected people or people who used to be connected have already been awarded these long-term contracts and he's questioning those and looking at whether they can get the work done cheaper, and now you start getting these threats that they're going to use their powers to have him removed."
"The same thing will happen on the water matter; it's a very delicate one. The minute they start reviewing these tenders, which they have to do, they're going to see more activity and more pushback from the mafia."
Wayne Duvenage, CEO - Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse
For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article