Board members of the Amatola Water Board, which supplies bulk water to various municipalities across the Eastern Cape, raked in R2.8m in excess payments over the past three financial years, according to water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina. In her recent response to parliamentary questions posed by uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) MP Visvin Reddy, Majodina shed light on the hefty fees involving the water utility. Reddy asked Majodina to provide a list of all water boards where board members had been paid in excess of the approved maximum amounts during the past three financial years without her prior approval as required by legislation.
In her response, Majodina listed Amatola and Magalies water boards as the culprits. She revealed that Amatola Water Board members received R151,198.32 in 2024/2025, R656,860.09 in 2023/2024 and R2,013 214.42 in 2022/2023. Magalies Water members received R671,465.85 in 2024/2025, R49,466.53 in 2023/2024 and R 239,093.82 in 2022/2023.
With its headquarters based in Rustenburg, Magalies Water Board serves parts of the North-West, Limpopo, and Gauteng. “Amatola and Magalies water board members were paid in excess of the maximum allowable hours during the past three financial years without prior approval,” Majodina said. The minister pointed out that steps were being taken to address non-compliance.
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In May 2024, she wrote to the chairs of the water sector entities, informing them that remuneration for additional work would not be approved retrospectively. “This was prompted by DWS [department of water & sanitation] discovering that there was non-compliance with the policy regarding board practices and remuneration of board members,” Majodina said. “The ministry further indicated that permission for additional hours would only be considered under extraordinary circumstances, and that boards were required to seek approval in each instance from the executive authority prior to any additional work being undertaken.”
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