The City of Cape Town and Johannesburg Municipality are now taking away the privilege of the first 6kl of water for free, but only for certain income brackets. In Cape Town this is coupled to the property evaluation.
I live alone and have been using on average 5kl of water per month since occupying my home.
I achieve this by having sunk a well point when my property was built and having purchased rain water tanks, and I also reuse grey water. This system was a costly exercise, and is still to be expanded even further.
Now I have to pay for the 5kl of water! This water will still come from the dams and will still be the same burden on the water supply; the only thing that changes is that the Municipality is now getting paid for it and for the sewage for which I will also have to pay. Lower income groups such as informal settlements do not have the luxury of water in their homes as I do but do not pay for water, but ironically will still “receive the first 6kl for free”. The water situation will not change, yet the Municipality will be generating more revenue, and people who have gone to great expense to conserve water will now just have to fork out more money. Municipal buildings that are being renovated/rebuilt have no water tanks or any saving designed into the buildings, with exception of a single building in Bellville.
This decision is one sided with money in mind and not the water shortage. This decision also serves no purpose in creating equality for all in the Rainbow Nation.
Thoughts to ponder with voting coming up soon?
