The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday formally requested hearings of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation to interrogate water board remuneration and decision-making since 2023/24, and the tabling of board policies, payments and justifications.

Last week, Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation to account for the growing water crisis across the City of Johannesburg.

The DA has been vocal about the ongoing water crisis.

DA spokesperson on Water and Sanitation Stephen Moore said South Africa’s water crisis was not only about pipes and pumps, but also about probity and transparency.

“While households and businesses endure rolling outages, reports of inflated board compensation and potential conflicts of interest at water boards are eroding public trust,” he explained.

Moore highlighted that reports of uMngeni-uThukela Water directors allegedly awarding themselves R2.6-million in “excess hours” fees while communities queue at tankers raise serious concerns that must be interrogated.

He noted that board positions were a public trust, not a revenue stream for directors or their firms.

“…any arrangement that blurs that line, fees that far exceed norms, “extra hours” signed off after the fact, or directors’ firms benefiting from entities they oversee, undermines the fight to stabilise supply,” he said.

The party said it was submitting targeted written parliamentary questions compelling Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina to provide a board-by-board schedule of compensation (fixed fees, meeting fees, travel and any “excess hours”), plus the independent benchmarking, if any, used to set those amounts.

The party wants the chairpersons of all water boards to immediately institute a procurement blackout for directors and their related parties for the duration of their terms, with a defined cooling off period thereafter.

Moore stated that the Department of Water and Sanitation must institute an arm’s length, independent review of total board compensation across every water board, benchmarking against workload and outcomes and publish the full methodology.

“Extraordinary payments must be capped and require prior written approval with reasons, no more retrospective signoffs. Conflict of interest rules must be tightened and enforced, with quarterly public disclosure of interests, mandatory recusals recorded in minutes, and transparent publication of all external legal and consulting briefs,” he said.

The party is also writing to Auditor General of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke to consider a special audit on water board governance and value for money in board expenditure.

The DA said it will use Parliament, the law and every oversight tool available to stop abuse, recover value and restore integrity.