The NGO says it was screwed over to the tune of millions, while the water department appears to have officially washed its hands of responsibility.
After disaster relief and charity organisation Gift of the Givers made a decision this week to withdraw their presence from the Eastern Cape town of Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, the department of water affairs has responded to the criticism against it, but without actually denying any of Gift of the Givers’ allegations.
“The media reports have even gone to an extent of insinuating that the department has reneged in its commitments made to the Gift of the Givers and Makanda Local Municipality.”A statement widely shared by Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman on Thursday lamented that the organisation would be leaving the Makhanda area “as a matter of principle”.
The department began engaging with Gift of the Givers, and after more than 50 hours of meetings and 13 weeks of expensive interventions for Makhanda, the DSW still hadn’t provided any information on funding.The straw that broke the camel’s back for Gift of the Givers came on Freedom Day, when the DSW told them to move their water trucks, “as there was [supposedly] no water crisis in Makhanda,” Sooliman said.
“Our hearts are with the people of Makhanda … who waited so patiently for water, but as a matter of principle, we cannot continue,” Sooliman concluded.
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