Cape Town – In the last few days of the public comment period for the proposed drought charge, I would like to again inform and remind residents on why this proposal is being made and why it is needed.
The drought charge is needed to make up the deficit in the City’s revenue which has come about due to residents’ water savings and paying significantly less for water and sanitation.
As I have stated before when tabling the proposed drought charge to Council last year, it is not intended to be punitive.
Without this vital income, the City will not be able to undertake the basic operations required to provide water and sanitation services to the people of Cape Town.
This network also requires constant maintenance to ensure that water and sanitation services are supplied to consumers.
The income from the drought charge is needed to ensure that we can operate the reticulation network that supplies drinking water to residents.
A charge based on property valuations has been deemed the most progressive of the options, while being the most equitable and fair to poor households.
This is the fairest way to recover the City’s revenue shortfall by distributing the charge in such a way that those who can afford it will pay an amount based on their properties’ valuation.
It is important to note that the cost of running the water and sanitation network does not increase or decrease in proportion to the amount of water used or sold.
The proposed drought charge will be tabled at Council for its consideration at the end of January as part of the adjustments budget.