Lesufi accuses Tshwane mayor of showboating

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has hit back at the executive mayor of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, who accused him of ignoring calls to assist the families of those who died during the cholera outbreak. 

More than 20 people died from the waterborne disease in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, this year. 

During a media briefing on Tuesday, Brink said his office wrote to Lesufi three times asking him to top up the R30,000 they plan to give to each of the 28 families but Lesufi failed to respond. 

However, speaking to Sowetan on Wednesday, Lesufi said if Brink wanted to assist the families then he should do so “voluntarily out of love rather than showboating calling a press conference to announce his assistance”.

“He’s late. People died almost three months ago. Does he think they are still at the mortuary? We didn’t call a press conference to announce how we assisted families but I can confirm that we have assisted with burial costs [of] those families that needed assistance and also gave those families vouchers to buy groceries,” Lesufi said.

Meanwhile, Brink’s spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said it was only fair for the mayor to reach out to the premier where the outbreak occurred.

“The mayor reached out to see if the premier could possibly assist us in our effort in managing and dealing with this matter. We reached out to the premier three times.”

Stuurman said the city would get death certificates and affidavits from families and was in the process of releasing the funds to the families “to ensure that we transfer these funds to the right beneficiaries”.

“We are in touch with these families. They know these funds are coming,” he said.

When asked why the city decided to give the families R30,000, Stuurman said: “It is an amount that we found to be adequate. In fact, it is not about the money, it is a gesture of goodwill to say we understand that you have been through a traumatic experience and this is what we are offering."

Some of the families, however, told Sowetan that they were not informed about the money.  

Kamo Stock, who lost her grandmother Sarah Tlhomelang, said while she was not informed about the compensation, the money offered was not enough.

“We are probably going to use it to buy water because we have trust issues with the water they provide. It would actually help if they actually dealt with the problem [which is] the treatment plant so this never happens again.

“The first thing they should have done is to reassure us that the water is suitable for consumption. They should bring us tests and transparently show us all the efforts done to ensure that our water is safe. In that way more lives are saved.

“The R30,000 will not bring my grandmother back and I hope they are not trying to use the money to blind us. We want sustainable solutions to the water problem.”

Martha Mathosi lost her father Johannes Resimathe Mathosi and her sister Sylvia Ndlhovu. She said she heard about the compensation from people on the street.

“We lost two people, what does that mean for us? Do we get more money. No one has told us anything about us getting money, but it would have been decent if they had explained everything to us first. R30,000 is not enough.”

Dimakatso Semenya, the mother of the youngest victim of the tragedy, three-year-old Tshimologo, said: “I suppose the money would assist us to erect a tombstone for him but I don’t know anything about R30,000. If it is true, I would appreciate it. But we will see.”