Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning:
With regard to the latest National Green Drop Report:
(1) (a) What are the criteria against which scores are calculated, (b) which five local governments in the province performed best and (c) which were ranked last, according to this report;
(2) (a) which municipalities’ water systems are viewed to be at risk due to poor waste management and (b) what support has his Department in the past rendered to local governments across the board to assist them to (i) lessen the risk of water scarcity and (ii) improve on their scores;
(3) what support did municipalities in the province receive from the national Department of Water and Sanitation in order to address water scarcity risks and to improve their scores against the Green Drop criteria?
[1][a] The Green Drop key performance assessment criteria are:
- Capacity Management [15%]
- Environmental Management [15%]
- Financial Management [20%]
- Technical Management [20%]
- Effluent and sludge compliance [30%]
These are further broken down into sub criteria.
Bonus points [maximum of 15%] can also be earned or points deducted [maximum of 15%] due to penalties.
[b] Witzenberg, Bitou, Drakenstein, Overstrand and Swartland municipalities are the 5 best performing municipalities in the province.
[c] Kannaland, Prince Albert, Langeberg, Swellendam and Matzikama municipalities are the 5 worst performing municipalities in the Province.
[2] [a] Eighteen [18] wastewater systems were identified to be in critical state due to poor wastewater management. The majority of these systems are managed by Matzikama, Kannaland, Swellendam and Prince Albert municipalities. Langeberg, Hessequa and Beaufort West municipalities also each have one system in a critical state.
[2] [b][i] The Department of Local Government appointed a consultant to develop the Western Cape Integrated Drought and Water Response Plan [WCIDWRP]. The core purpose of the WCIDWRP for the Western Cape [Provincial Departments and municipalities] is to achieve water resilience for the next 15 years, stipulated in 5-year increments. This project commenced in August 2020 for a 25-month period.
[b][ii] The DLG assists municipalities to access national Municipal Infrastructure Grant [MIG] funding for water and wastewater infrastructure projects. This funding is dependent on the projects proposed by the municipalities [and whether the MIG criteria in theses project plans are met], as well as the overall available MIG funding for that financial year.
[3] According to the Division of Revenue Bill for 2021, the Western Cape was allocated R27.6m and R29.2m in 2021/22 and 2022/23 [with no funding in 2023/24] under the national Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant [RBIG]. Matzikama and Witzenberg municipalities were the identified recipient municipalities. The Department of Water and Sanitation did not respond to enquiries about grant funding provided to municipalities specifically for water and sanitation projects, so it is not known how much of the RBIG was allocated to these sectors.
The Western Cape was allocated R129m, R145.4m and R96,2m in 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 under the Water Service Infrastructure Grant.
Furthermore, a total of R454.4m, R474.3m and R491.7m was allocated to the Western Cape in 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 under the MIG. Water and sanitation projects make up a portion of the overall MIG projects: for example, in 2020/21, R199.2m was allocated to water and sanitation projects out of a total of R470.1m in MIG funding.
With regard to improving Green Drop scores, the Green Drop Report 2022 provides a very rough order of measurement [“VROOM”] which indicates the funding required to restore existing infrastructure to its original design capacity and operations. In addition, the Green Drop Report 2022 provides some further detailed comments for each Municipality on the repairs, refurbishment or upgrade required at various WWTW, as well as areas for improvement in capacity building and operations.
