Name the guzzlers

YOUR article “These are Cape Town’s water guzzlers” refers.

It is, of course, in everyone’s interests that everyone conserves water and that the “well-run” municipality of Cape Town does everything in its power to police water restrictions.

The article is very generalistic, though. What do these water guzzlers do, so that one can gain perspective? Are they residents, hotels, schools, wine estates or perhaps a shopping village? What?

Of the 20 000 water guzzlers, what is the breakdown in terms of how many between the areas that have been identified?

Has the City engaged with the respective Ratepayers Associations for the areas that it has named and “shamed,” who can then engage with its residents? Has it contacted and met with the owners of the properties concerned to appeal to them?

While all residents need to conserve water, what is the DA-run City doing about the following, for instance:

• The population of Cape Town has increased, we are told, 12% in the last 5 years or so – has there been a corresponding increase in storage capacity? What is it?

• How much water (give us a number in litres) is lost in the City’s pipeline network which it manages and “maintains”?

• How much water that comes off Table Mountain via fresh water streams is not captured by the City and used? Give us an estimated number of litres.

• We are told by the DA-run municipality that tourism has increased dramatically during the last five years and will continue to do so. How much of an impact does this have on water requirements, which follows on from the question about storage capacity.

• You quote De Lille as saying: “Because of your abuse, we will suffer.” I agree that those who are not making an effort result in consequences for all.

Just as when all ratepayers and residents suffer when the DA-run municipality writes off approximately R2 billion-worth of revenue a year (ref: audited accounts as of July 31, 2016). In the past five years, this amounts to R10 billion. Yes, the number is right, R10 billion.

This is the equivalent of 28.6% of the entire rates revenue base (seven billion) of the City a year.

Why no huge uproar about this state of affairs? Zero, zip. Nothing.

Kept very quiet, of course, by the conniving and increasingly arrogant DA politicians, as well as the City of Cape Town Mayco. No mention of using this wasted money on more dams to keep up with an increasing local population and increased tourism demands and so on.

Guzzlers indeed – De Lille and her Mayco cohorts are the biggest. Peter Stenslunde Century City