NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                   02 May 2001

CAPE TOWN COUNCIL TURNS ON FREE BASIC WATER

Free basic water began flowing in Cape Town yesterday, bringing to fruition a commitment by the new City of Cape Town Council to assist all consumers, but especially the poorest of the poor.

By meeting its deadline of 1 May, Cape Town became the first city in South Africa to provide a free monthly allocation of six kilolitres (6 000 litres) of water to all domestic metered consumers and those using standpipes.

Flats and cluster housing complexes using bulk meters will also qualify for this special dispensation once affidavits on the number of units in the complex are submitted.

To recover the cost of providing free basic water, tariffs will be adjusted from 1 July. Effectively this means that consumers using less than 20 kilolitres of water will pay less, while the bigger consumers will pay more.

Tariff adjustments will be influenced by a number of factors, including the cost of providing free basic water, the income shortfall caused by the implementation of water restrictions, tariff convergence between the six administrations, normal inflationary pressures and possible savings by the Council.

The provision of a free allocation of water will cost the City about R7 million this financial year and R43 million next year.

“Council staff worked long hours to overcome technical problems so that we could meet our commitment to start the service in May,” said Councillor David Erleigh, the City of Cape Town Council’s Executive Committee member responsible for City Trading Services.

“ We are proud to be the first city to turn on the taps in an initiative to lighten the burden for the very poor,” he said. But he warned that the free quota of water was not an invitation to waste water.

“On the contrary, it is more urgent than ever that we all try much harder to save water,” said Councillor Erleigh. “The dam levels are lower than they have been for many years and there is a strong possibility that we will have to introduce much tougher water restrictions if we don’t have good winter rainfall.”

The provision of free basic water will go hand in hand with an ongoing campaign to educate consumers on the need to save the Cape’s most precious resource.

Councillor Erleigh said the free allocation of water would be extended to all households, including those in arrears with their accounts, provided they made arrangements with the Council to settle their debts.

“Defaulters will be cut off, but the Council is looking at ways of providing a minimal quantity of 200 litres a day to those who genuinely can’t pay their arrears,” he said.

The free allocation cannot be stored and carried over to the next month.However, the Council has decided that connections made during the month will be given a pro rata share of water. In cases where meters are not read every month, adjustments will be made periodically to reflect the free portion.

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