Cape Town - Opposition parties have cautiously welcomed the provincial government’s announcement of an R88.8-million investment in emergency funding against the impact of load shedding in local municipalities, saying “decent sanitation” was a luxury for most, load shedding or not.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger on Monday announced the authorisation of R88.8m to be allocated to the Department of Local Government for the procurement of back-up generators for the treatment and supply of water services.
According to Premier Alan Winde, this was one of a number of medium - to longer-term strategies to respond to the load-shedding crisis.
In a joint statement, the provincial government said: “At a municipal level, electricity is used for pumping, treatment of raw water, distribution of potable water, collection and treatment of wastewater and water discharge.
Municipalities have expressed that one of their most critical emergency needs is assistance with once-off funding to acquire these generators.”
Local Government MEC Anton Bredell added: “The funding will enable 24 local municipalities and the five district municipalities to keep providing basic services such as potable water and hygienic and environmentally safe sewage, even when Eskom cannot keep the lights on.
“Reservoirs, water purification plants and wastewater plants all need large pumps to operate.
“Although back-up generators running on diesel are expensive, at least it will provide for continuity as we develop more long-term and sustainable solutions to our current energy crisis.”
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron said the investment was welcomed.
“This is the kind of priority that our provincial governments should be choosing to fund. I doubt that R88m will be sufficient to keep all of the basic services operational in municipalities across the province, and the Department of Local Government should disclose how the funding will be allocated.
“If the province wasn’t dabbling in trying to fund a police force in the City of Cape Town, they would be in a financial position to make a serious and much more impactful investment in mitigating the impact of load shedding on basic services, like water reticulation, but also in new energy systems that could totally eliminate our dependence on Eskom,” he said.
ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni added: “Sewage is running over in our streets in our communities whether there is load shedding or not. Our communities have to walk to the nearest tap to get water whether there is load shedding or not.
Decent sanitation is a luxury for most of our people through load shedding or not. Refuse is dumped because it is not collected even when there is no load shedding. Street lights don’t work in our communities when there’s load shedding or not.
“The ANC in the Western Cape will approach these interventions by the DA-led administration in the Western Cape with caution. We have been consistently saying that the ANC will welcome and support a non-partisan and multi-pronged approach to the energy crisis.
However, we approach it with caution because we are unsure of who exactly will benefit from this R88.8m intervention in our municipalities.”
He said the ANC called on DA-led municipalities to “deliver basic service delivery to our communities before grandstanding and coming with big announcements.
They must simply concentrate on delivering basic municipal services to our communities.”
Cape Times