R20.8m boost for drought relief

THE CITY Of Cape Town received a major a boost from the national government towards its drought disaster efforts.

The City has been informed by the National Disaster Management Centre in the Department of Co-operative Governance that R20.8 million will be transferred to the City for emergency disaster relief.

“We are extremely grateful to the department for this contribution, and thank them for assisting us with this very important task to supplement our water supplies,” said Mayor Patricia de Lille.

Letters sent to the City from the department state that the purpose of the funds was to provide emergency relief for the drilling of boreholes and installation of pumps and pipelines.

“The incoming grant will go a long way towards the implementation of the programmes that are in place as part our Water Resilience Strategy,” De Lille said.

The City plans to use the funds to respond to the immediate needs of the drought disaster. Last week the City launched its plans to augment the system by up to 500 million litres of water a day over the coming months, using groundwater extraction, desalination and water reuse.

This project will cost the City about R2 billion in funding and R1.3bn in operating costs.

Last month, the City raised R1bn in their Green Bond and will also be drawing from this source to fund their water augmentation projects.