ANC Jacobs’s calls are absurd and misguided
THE DA notes Faiez Jacobs’s puzzling and misguided announcement that the provincial ANC will launch a class action suit on behalf of all Capetonians should his list of demands relating to water management efforts not have been met by July 18 at 5pm.
In an effort to save himself and his party further embarrassment, I would like to bring to his attention the fact that the City’s water demand management programmes are in line with the national government’s 2004 water conservation and demand management strategy for the water services sector.
The recommendations contained in the strategy were duly implemented by the City when the DA was entrusted to lead in 2006.
Mr Jacobs, here are some fast facts to bring you up to speed:
National government granted the City permission to implement an increase in tariffs without the normal public consultation process due to the urgency and severity of the drought; water management devices (WMD) have been rolled out across the City for more than a decade as a means to provide indigent households with a tool to avoid debt, assist with arrears payment plans and detect costly leaks early.
The City assists indigent residents with leak repairs free of charge;
FYI, the same devices are installed in municipalities across SA, including those governed by the ANC;
WMDs have been rolled out in all suburbs across Cape Town, including the most affluent;
Tariff relief can come if the dams fill sufficiently to relax restrictions. National government controls the level of water restrictions;
The City issues close to a million accounts per month. Although inaccurate billing is always regrettable, only a small percentage of accounts contain errors, usually less than 1%;
All billing queries are investigated based on their merits;
Indigent residents receive 10.5kl of water p/m free of charge; and
The City does not make a profit on the sale of water. Income is used only for water services.
When restrictions are lowered, more water is sold, so the tariffs are lowered to achieve the same total income. The City operates on a revenue neutral basis.
Increasing the cost of water is internationally recognised as the most effective intervention for reducing water consumption, and this formed a critical component of the strategy that saw the City and its residents succeeding in avoiding Day Zero.
The City managed to achieve in two years what took Western Australia 10 years during its protracted drought.
Calling for the reversal of these interventions at this stage of the effort to ensure human and economic survival, should be regarded as the absurd and counter-productive notion it is.
I encourage you to read the DWAF strategy and do feel free to get in touch should you have any questions you may have about its contents.