Cape Town residents are doing their best to recover from the drought crisis they found themselves in just months ago. The dams are steadily being replenished by the rainy season, and have filled up enough for the strict Level 6B restrictions to be marginally downgraded to Level 5. National government has also made the decision to allocate R553-million in funding for its various water projects.
“This past week the City of Cape Town received communication that we will be receiving grant funding for drought relief efforts from the national government,” Cape Town’s Mayor, Patricia De Lille, said on Monday. “Following an application for grant funding, we are very grateful for this support and look forward to receiving an allocation of R553.05 million. I will be writing a letter of acknowledgment and thanks to the national government for this support.”
The funds will be used for the funding of the Cape Flats, Atlantis and Table Mountain Group Aquifer recharge projects, and will also be compliant with the Municipal Disaster Recovery Grant Conditions.
“Following the gazetting of the grant in October, the funds will be reflected on the City’s Informal Settlements, Waste and Water Services department’s budget to be spent in terms of the project delivery plan,” De Lille added. “The direct conditional grant funding for drought relief was received from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (incorporating the National Disaster Management Centre) in conjunction with National Treasury and I would like to thank these departments as well as the Western Cape Provincial Government for the role they played in facilitating access to this funding support which will strengthen our efforts to ensure water security and build a water-resilient city.”
Cape Town experienced one of the most severe droughts the city has seen in decades – this resulted in three years of very low rainfall. “As a city we have all come together to navigate our way through this difficult period,” De Lille said.
She added that although the city has received “very good” recovery rains, residents should remember to constantly adhere to their new relationship with water and continue to both save and use it sparingly.
“I commend Team Cape Town for all their brilliant water-saving efforts and ask that we continue on this trend as our dams must still recover fully,” De Lille said.
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