Cape Town - After its first cabinet meeting of the year, the Western Cape government has announced it will be releasing R88.81 million in emergency funding to mitigate the impact of unprecedented levels of load shedding.
The struggling power utility Eskom has placed South Africa on stage 4 load shedding until further notice.
The consequences of load shedding on the provincial economy, municipal services and the environment were discussed during the cabinet meeting last week.
Following the meeting, Western Cape MEC for finance and economic opportunities Mireille Wenger authorised the release of R88.81m in terms of section 25(1) of the Public Finance Management Act (Act 6 of 2000), to be allocated to the Department of Local Government for the procurement of back-up generators for the treatment and supply of water services.
Section 25(1) of the act states that the MEC for finance and economic opportunities in the province may authorise the use of funds from the Provincial Revenue Fund to defray expenditure of an exceptional nature, which is currently not provided for, and which cannot, without serious prejudice to the public interest in the province, be postponed to a future appropriation by the provincial legislature.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said this move emphasised the urgency to address the knock-on effects of relentless rolling blackouts on essential basic services.
“We cannot allow our citizens to suffer any further. We must act to urgently stabilise municipal services, such as water supply, wastewater treatment and sewerage infrastructure for our citizens.
“Our government is working very hard on a number of medium- to longer-term strategies to respond to this crisis, but we recognise our responsibility to intervene now where we can. This emergency release of funding for critical infrastructure is just one such example,” Winde said.
The Western Cape government said load shedding and electricity disruptions were having a severe impact on the treatment and supply of water services.
“The intensity of the load shedding that struck the country is unprecedented. The devastating impact on basic service delivery across many municipalities in the province, including the fundamental rights of citizens, with no reasonable prospect that it will end any time soon, could not have been foreseen, which is why we need to urgently stabilise energy requirements and ensure municipalities can provide essential and basic water and sanitation services.
“This funding will also help mitigate against the real risk of spillage of raw sewage into watercourses and interruptions of potable water supply, both of which have potential adverse health implications for citizens.
“We face an emergency that requires an urgent response and emergency funding to protect our residents,” Wenger said.
The provincial government said it has attached strict conditions to the expenditure of the funds:
- The authorised amount must be reported to the provincial parliament and auditor-general within 14 days.
- Expenditure must be included in the next provincial adjustments budget for the financial year in which it is authorised, or in other appropriation legislation tabled in the provincial parliament within 120 days after authorisation of the expenditure.
- The allocations to municipalities must be gazetted as per the requirements of the Division of Revenue Act.
Electricity is used to pump, treat raw water, distribute potable water, collect and treat wastewater and water discharge.
But the provincial government said these pumps need electricity to work and to ensure water is delivered to homes, hospitals, schools and businesses.
During the cabinet meeting, municipalities expressed one of their most emergency needs was assistance with one-off funding to acquire generators.
MEC for local government, environmental affairs and development planning Anton Bredell said the R88.81m was an investment in stability for the Western Cape.
He said the funding will enable 24 municipalities and five district municipalities to continue providing basic services such as potable water and hygienic and environmental safe sewage.
“I do recognise that local governments in the province have been doing their utmost to deal with load shedding, which is reflected in the R203.7m municipalities across the province have already spent this financial year from their own budgets to procure back-up generators, diesel and other ancillaries to deal with load shedding.
“Reservoirs, water purification plants, and wastewater plants all need large pumps to operate.
“Constant load shedding is making it impossible for these facilities to operate optimally. Although back-up generators running on diesel are expensive, at least it will provide for continuity as we develop more long-term and sustainable solutions to our current energy crisis,” Bredell said.
All municipal managers have signed certificates of commitment to ensure generators will be put to optimal use and avoid wasteful expenditure.
The Western Cape government said the commitment entails that all municipalities will ensure the acquisition and installation of generators.
Municipalities will use their own budgets to fund the operational costs for the duration of the lifespan of the generators.
Municipalities will also be required to sign a transfer payment agreement as an internal control mechanism to ensure compliance with the grant framework.
“The Western Cape government is committed to ensuring full transparency in the use of public funds and we will ensure that rigorous governance systems are put in place to ensure oversight on all expenditure,” Bredell said.
Further actions to be taken over the short, medium and long term will be announced.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL