Cape Town’s water crisis is fast turning into an all-out fight, with residents and business up in arms over a pending water levy. The City of Cape Town proposed a drought levy based on property value in December, stating the revenue generated would be used to fund the city’s various water augmentation schemes. While the Democratic Alliance at the time supported the charge, it has since changed its tune and last week released a statement saying it would be voting against the proposed levy which is subject to a public participation process that also has to be approved by the national minister of finance. The National Department of Water has seemingly taken a “hands off” approach to the water crisis in the Western Cape where dam levels are reaching all-time lows. The City of Cape Town is preparing for taps to run completely dry towards the end of April. Legal experts maintain a drought levy or charge is illegal as the Constitution mandates national governments to manage water. In a statement the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said the levy was not being based on water consumption, making it just another punitive tax rather than a consumption charge. It added that the city had no right to initiate its own taxes over and above existing property rates. Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, maintains there is no justification for the drought charge. “We reject the idea that some form of surcharge on water users would be appropriate to cover the revenue shortfall. You cannot punish customers for buying less of what the City cannot supply anyway. The water problem is the result of poor council planning and it is the council that must pay, not the victims.” Ray de Vries, CEO of Airwater, last week visited Theewaterskloof Dam, from which 45% of Cape Town’s water supply is drawn, in an effort to showcase the desolation and severity of the current situation. “If this is the water supply we have right now in January, we are in for a torrid time,” he said. “This is not about bad news or scaring people, but the reality.”
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