Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
(1) (a) How much was spent on the establishment of desalination plants as a water augmentation response to Day Zero and the drought in the province, (b) how many desalination plants have been established, (c) what is the (i) cost breakdown and (ii) status of each plant, (d) what was the envisaged volumes of water to be produced by this process, and (e) what has ultimately been received from each desalination plant to date;
(2) whether some of the desalination plants have gotten into legal disputes; if so, (a) what are the relevant details per plant, (b) what is cost of litigation to date and (c) provide details per plant of the (i) status of such processes and (ii) cost to date of such litigation or decommissioning;
(3) whether some of the desalination plants are being decommissioned; if so, (a) why, (b) what is the status of the process and (c) what is the cost to date of the decommissioning;
(4) (a) what are the details of the service providers that were commissioned to establish these desalination plants and (b) how much did each service provider get from the contract?
The following information was provided by the City of Cape Town:
(2)(1)(a) The desalination plants procured by the City of Cape Town were all temporary in nature, with a 24 month period of drinking water production. These plants were owned, established and operated by the appointed Service Provider/Contractor who recovered the fixed and variable costs via the sale of water at tendered rates. Decommissioning at the end of the contract period was also for the account of the Service Provider/Contractor. The City did however install the network connection points and power supply infrastructure and these remain municipal assets.
(b) Three Desalination Plants were established at Strandfontein 7Ml/day), Monwabisi (7Ml/day) and V&A Waterfront (2Ml/day).
(c) Strandfontein – 24-month contract period. No longer operational since start of decommissioning phase on 17 June 2020.
• Monthly Fixed Cost: R6 339 558.00
• Variable Cost: R8.64/kl
Monwabisi – Currently operational. 24 month contract ends September 2020
• Monthly Fixed Cost: R6 801 996.00
• Variable Cost: R9.91/kl
V&A Waterfront – Contract terminated by service provider in May 2019
• Monthly Fixed Cost: R1 462 641.83
• Variable Cost: R9.59/kl
When the contractor under produces, the monthly fixed cost is reduced according to the contract.
(d) Strandfontein Desalination Plant: 3886 mega litres. The plant is being decommissioned.
Monwabisi Desalination Plant: 4139 mega litres by 13 August 2020
V&A Desalination Plant: 181 mega litres up to contract termination by service provider
2(2)(a) The contract for the V&A Desalination Plant was terminated on 7 May 2019 by
the service provider/contractor
(b) Still to be determined.
(c) V&A Desalination Contract: Summons served on City on 13 June 2019. Awaiting court date.
2(3)(a) See above, Water supply was only contracted for 24 months in all three
cases.
(b) See answer to question 1(d).
(c) Decommissioning costs are for the service provider’s/ contractor’s account.
2(4)(a) The following contractors won the Tenders to establish the Desalination Plants:
• Strandfontein Desalination Plant: Water Solutions – Proxa JV
• Monwabisi Desalination Plant: Water Solutions – Proxa JV
• V&A Desalination Plant: QFS
b) The following was paid to date for water produced from the 3 Desalination Plants:
• Strandfontein: R 165 151 015.12 (excluding VAT)
• Monwabisi: R 171 028 003.76 (excluding VAT)
• V&A: Payment details form part of current litigation process
