GOOD statement by Lulama Benge
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
15 October 2024
In September the City announced it is embarking on feasibility studies to investigate the most suitable options for construction, financing and operations of the planned Paarden Eiland Desalination Plant as well as the Faure New Water Scheme, for purified recycled water. However the feasibility studies appear to be a check-box on route to Cape Town’s first permanent desalination plant in 2028.
GOOD does not deny the crucial need to secure our water supply. But we are deeply concerned as to why the city is continuing down the desalination path when it has been proven that the financial and environmental costs are too high.
In 2018, the former DA provincial legislature caucus leader and chairperson of the steering committee on environmental affairs and development planning, Rodney Lentit accused the Democratic Alliance of alleged corruption. Lentit claimed the DA stood to make R600-million in kickbacks from desalination contracts if awarded to an Israeli company that was funding the DA’s 2019 election campaign.
The GOOD party understands that groundwater extraction is the most cost-effective option for navigating the future of water sustainability. It is a quarter of the cost of desalination and takes less time to implement.
The city has committed to increasing the available water supply by over 300 million litres per day, but at a cost of approximately R5,7 billion. According to media interviews by the CoCT Water and Sanitation MMC Zahid Badroodien, the desalination plant will be funded through the water tariff. In other words we, the water consumers, will pay for this irrational plan directly through massively increased water accounts.
The DA-led government needs to explain why they are continuing with this costly project at the expense of the already over-burdened residents instead of focusing their efforts on the more cost-effective options.
Media enquiries:
Lulama Benge, GOOD: City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 060 6888384
Email: lulamab@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Acting Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za