The Mayor has taken the important step of declaring Cape Town a local disaster area. Yet when this was tabled at the Council meeting, no debate was allowed. Not only does this prevent public debate on political decisions, but it prevents us from showing that National Dept: Water and Sanitation needs to support CT more.
The Mayors very important declaration, due to the ongoing #WaterCrisis, was published in the Western Cape Provincial Gazette Number 7736, dated 3 March 2017.
While the ACDP fully supports Mayor De Lille’s decision, no debate is allowed at todays Council meeting on it. In particular we have noted with dismay the lack of response and support given to the City and its residents by relevant national government departments, Dept: Water and Sanitation in particular.
Some examples of what they have not done, noting that their inaction has exacerbated our water crisis:
They have not:
- Not responded timeously to requests for dredging canals leading to dams – exacerbating our problem.
- Not allowed local farmers access to the dams to remove nutrient-rich top soil from the dams where the water level has dropped to record lows.
- Not budgeted for the building of new dams since the last (6th) dam was completed around 13 years ago
#CTCouncil #ACDP
