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IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Urgent R32 million budget for water security in the Western Cape
Anton Bredell, Western Cape's local government and environmental affairs minister, backing a bold R32 million push to upgrade ageing water infrastructure and secure the province's future supply. Image: Independent Newspapers Archive In response to mounting climate pressures and growing demands on municipal services, the Western Cape Government has committed R32 million in the 2025/26 financial year to assist local municipalities with critical water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades. Western Cape Minister for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, announced the allocation during a panel discussion on food and water security at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference on June 2. Bredell painted a stark picture of the challenges facing the province. 'We also have the added complexity of poverty, inequality and a fast-growing population,' he said. 'These socio-economic dynamics make it very challenging to plan, budget and construct the water and wastewater infrastructure we need to provide future water security in our region.' The R32 million allocation for the 2025/26 financial year will be used to support municipalities as they upgrade and expand critical infrastructure, a move seen as urgent given the province's limited potential for new bulk water storage facilities. Bredell said there are only limited opportunities for additional bulk water storage in the Western Cape, and as such, future water security will have to come from improved supply and demand management, alternative sources such as groundwater, the re-use of water, and desalination. While the Western Cape boasts the lowest per capita water use in the country, at 160 litres per person per day, compared to the national average of 216 litres, much of that water is lost or unaccounted for. According to Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for Minister Bredell, the Western Cape manages to generate revenue from 70.4% of water supplied to consumers, meaning that 30% of water is either lost in the system, or it was delivered to a consumer without generating any revenue. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ "A portion of the non-revenue water is water supplied free of charge to poor and vulnerable residents. This is part of a dignity basket which also includes a set amount of free electricity and other basic municipal services," said Kriel. Bredell said the current national threshold of free water is no longer realistic. 'Our research on what constitutes water dignity found that the current 6 kilolitres a month per household, as prescribed in South African legislation, is not sufficient, and it should be much higher, at 15 kilolitres per household,' he said. 'These findings raise serious questions on our approach to water management in South Africa and especially in our local governments where rate payers are being pushed to pay more for services to also help subsidise the dignity basket to an increasing number of indigent households.' Kriel confirmed the provincial support, saying; 'The Western Cape Government is budgeting R32 million for the 2025/26 financial year to support municipalities with water and wastewater infrastructure projects.' IOL News Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
IOL News
30-04-2025
- IOL News
Convicted 'killer' busted in Table View for robbery
Slain make-up artist Suritha Alting was robbed and stabbed on her way home from a restaurant in Richwood, Cape Town. Image: Independent Newspapers Archive Questions have arisen over how the teen convicted of the murder of Suritha Alting, 28, was found robbing people in Table View this month - less than two years after he was sentenced. Table View dad, Dave Walters, said he was shocked when he was informed by investigators that the man who robbed him of his cellphone two weeks ago was in fact a "killer who slipped through the cracks". The 50-year-old man said Xolani Du Preez and his accomplice were busted on April 17 after they entered his home. "I was at home playing Call of Duty and had left the gate open as I knew my son would probably leave around midnight to meet up with his girlfriend. "I saw two males and initially thought they were my son's friends but then I saw they put their fingers on their lips and said 'shhh' and this is when I knew it was a break-in. "The one grabbed my cellphone and they fled running in opposite directions." Walters and his son chased after the suspects and tracked the cellphone's location as they alerted police. Police arrived on the scene along Blaauwberg Road and the Oppo cellphone was recovered. Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg, confirmed the arrest: "Table View police registered a house robbery case for investigation on Thursday, April 17, in Hoorn Street, Table View. The suspects fled the scene with a cellular telephone worth R10 000. We can confirm that two males age 19 and 22 were arrested on Friday, April 18, and appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court." Walters said several days later he returned to Table View police station to thank SAPS for their work, when he was called by detective's who revealed the identity of the suspect. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ "They told me that he is the guy who was convicted of killing the woman in Richwood. "According to that sentence he was supposed to serve two years and 245 days at a juvenile facility and later eight years at an adult correctional facility but somehow the killer just slipped through the cracks," said Walters. The case Walters is refering to happened in November 2023, when Du Preez was sentenced by the Parow Regional Court to two years and 245 days in a child youth care facility and eight years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to Alting's murder.
