Western Cape premier Helen Zille has criticised the national government for not making funding available for water augmentation efforts in the drought-ravaged city of Cape Town.
"Although bulk water supply is its mandate, the national Department of Water and Sanitation has not made funding available for augmentation in this crisis, because the National Treasury has literally turned off its funding tap following a disastrous audit outcome," Zille said during her state of the province address in the provincial legislature on Thursday.
She said that, as a result, the City of Cape Town had stepped into the breach with aquifer extraction, water reuse and desalination projects amounting to close to R6bn over the five-year medium term revenue expenditure framework.
Zille said she noted Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s budget speech setting aside R6bn for drought relief and infrastructure for the five provinces hit by the current drought.
The provincial government, operating on a very constrained budget, has diverted over R369m from our core functions to supplement disaster funding since 2015-16.
This would be the lowest storage level ever recorded and the potential trigger for Day Zero — or Level 7 restrictions — when the city turns off the taps in residential areas to conserve the remaining water supply.
That was when most people would have to queue for water — rather than sourcing it from a tap in their homes, Zille said.
However, she said that business districts, informal settlements and public health facilities would remain connected to supply.
These will be supplemented by the private sector that is making plans to ensure a range of complementary supply points across the city.
ANC Western Cape leader Khaya Magaxa said Zille was blaming the ANC at national level, "but taking credit for the same ANC’s performance at national level".