Durban — Kenny Kunene handed a much-needed lifeline to thousands of pupils after donating Jojo tanks to a dozen schools in the water-starved Phoenix area, north of Durban, on Thursday.
Kunene, who is the deputy president of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) party, donated two Jojo tanks each to 12 schools in a bid to counter the long-standing issue of water shortages in Phoenix and other northern towns.
During the handover at Woodview Secondary School, the businessman-turned-politician came out guns blazing, accusing the ANC government of neglecting residents.
“This is an indictment to all political parties in KZN that have been voted into power. It is an indictment on them that I have to see this problem from Johannesburg and come here twice to resolve this problem.”
Kunene visited six of the 12 schools with party members and the Voices of Phoenix in tow.
Elated pupils could not suppress their excitement when the 2 500-litre Jojo tanks were donated. Kunene’s donation comes as parties upped the ante in their campaigns with less than two weeks before the May 29 elections.
Speaking to the Daily News, Kunene said his party was gunning for at least three seats in the 80-member provincial legislature.
“Obviously we want a voice in the province of KZN. We want to change a lot of things in KZN, but we cannot do that if we are not part of the government.”
Nationally, the party was eyeing at least 10% of the votes, said Kunene.
The party has been unrelenting in its calls for foreign nationals to leave the country under its “ABAHAMBE!” campaign.
The lack of a consistent water supply in Phoenix, which has been going on for more than a year, had hampered schooling and sometimes brought schooling to a complete halt as pupils were sometimes released to go home at 10am.
Kunene lambasted the government, saying it deprived teachers and pupils of water, which was a basic need.
“Water is a basic need that people must not fight for. It is worse when young people are deprived of education because of an incompetent government,” said Kunene.
He added: “It cannot be that Phoenix is treated like an island. it cannot be Phoenix is a forgotten area yet during elections politicians come here.”
While Kunene said that his donation was “small”, an elated pupil Siyanda Nzama thanked him for leaping to their rescue.
“We are very happy as pupils at Woodview Secondary for the donation of the Jojo tanks. Thank you for coming to our rescue. We will now not have a major water problem that is affecting our schooling.”
Pastor Mervin Reddy from a community organisation Voices of Phoenix, echoed the sentiments.
“We are glad that this donation will mitigate the water shortages in our schools. We have been fighting for a long time to end the water crisis in Phoenix. We are glad that the Patriotic Alliance has made this much-needed donation.”
Reddy said the Jojo tanks would curb the water shortages in the interim, but stressed that a permanent solution to the nagging water crisis was needed.
“The government needs to come up with a permanent solution to the water crisis. We cannot allow such a situation to go on unchallenged.”
The city has been grappling with the water crisis, which worsened after the 2021 floods that left a trail of destruction in the province.
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Daily News