GOOD press statement by Anton Louw,
GOOD: City of Cape Town Councillor
30 March 2022
The City of Cape Town’s budget will be tabled at tomorrow’s sitting of Council, and we are looking forward to Executive Mayor Hill-Lewis’s first budget and hoping he will begin to address some of the most pressing service delivery deficiencies in our city that are a legacy of DA neglect and skewed priorities.
Chief amongst the things we would like to see in the proposed budget for 2022/23 is the end of fleecing of our residents. This is with particular reference to the profit the city continues to make on the provision of water and electricity.
The cost of electricity to consumers, like water, is subjected to markups by the City of Cape Town that makes power unaffordable to many. The City administration must desist from seeing basic services as a cash cow. Over the years, the tariffs added to Eskom’s basic price have increased to the point that they are unaffordable.
To this end we look forward to seeing some restructuring of our water and electricity tariffs. The tariffs, plus fixed levies and surcharges, are making basic services unaffordable.
This means scrapping the fixed water levy, which was meant to be a temporary drought levy, and it means reducing or scrapping the mark-up on the approved NERSA electricity tariff.
We also look forward to the DA-led administration making pronouncements on the following:
Financial relief for households in distress.
Increased in basic services to informal settlements.
Increased in investment in infrastructure which will also create jobs.
We want to see disparities in the provision and quality of community infrastructure and amenities addressed through additional spend on community facilities.
We also want to see investment in facilities and services for homeless people living on the streets. The number of street homeless people is growing rapidly and too much is being spent on policing homelessness and not enough on solutions.
Rather than seeking to develop sustainable management solutions for the phenomenon, as progressive cities around the world do, Cape Town is vindictive and violent, confiscating homeless people’s possessions and bullying them and this has to stop.
We have a duty to provide services efficiently and reliably, and to ensure they are provided affordably to everyone, with support for those households and individuals that need it most. No family should have to choose between buying food and water and electricity.
Media enquiries:
Anton Louw, GOOD: City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 0823773335
Email: anton@cisfs.co.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (WhatsApp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za