Kouga Municipality has outlined their plans, at the State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) on March 7, which includes reducing their reliance on Eskom as a sole energy supplier, and further establishing their purification plants to provide residents with potable borehole water.
Despite the challenges created by the ongoing drought, economy-breaking lockdowns, and an energy disaster, Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks, said that he was hopeful that the plans set in motion by the municipality would effectively counter these challenges.
He said that reducing Kouga’s reliance on Eskom as a sole energy supplier has become a top priority, to put measurements in place to mitigate the negative impact suffered by residents and businesses due to the ongoing loadshedding.
“Facing a water and energy crisis at the same time threatens to overturn our boat, and compromise our goal of becoming the best municipality in this country,” said Hendricks.
“The municipality is strategically focused on building a growth economy underpinned by a sustainable energy supply through long, medium, and short-term plans.
“I will table, by the end of this month, a draft annual budget of over R1.2 billion, significantly up from 2021 and 2022. It will include financing our plans to fund sustainable water and energy security over the next three years.”
As part of the municipality’s long-term plans, Hendricks said that they would develop a 60MW renewable energy plant to cater for the town’s 59.1MW demand.
He said that Kouga was also in the process of creating an energy farm, or hub, to optimise infrastructure and energy reticulation, and an environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been commissioned.
As part of their medium-term plans, Hendricks said that a basic feasibility study as part of the energy hub or farm assessment was currently underway for the installation of a 20MW solar (PV) plant, as well as the appropriate storage solution.
He said that they expect the feasibility study to be completed by the end of June, after which a tender will be developed and issued in the second half of this year.
As part of the municipality’s short-term plans, he said that they would install a 1MW solar (PV) solution, with appropriate storage, for Kouga’s critical service delivery infrastructure.
“It is expected that this will reduce Kouga’s own consumption with a commensurate saving out of the approximately 10 percent own consumption of its annual electricity bill, not to mention the savings associated with generators,” said Hendricks.
He said that the critical essential service delivery infrastructure has been identified as, Humansdorp boreholes, Jeffreys Bay wastewater treatment works, Jeffreys Bay water treatment works and Jeffreys Bay main municipal building.
Addressing water security, Hendricks said that with two of the four plants for the purification of borehole water already completed, the municipality would soon be able to supply potable borehole water to residents.
He said that the remaining two purification plants would be completed by the end of March.
Hendricks said that each plant is installed at a cost of approximately R7 million, with the first plant built at the Humansdorp water treatment works producing up to 6Ml of clean water per day feeding to the reservoir, while the second plant, at the Jeffreys Bay water treatment works, will add an additional 4Ml of water to the existing reservoir.
The two plants at Hankey and St Francis Bay will be completed by the end of March – each providing 2Ml water per day.
He further said that there were currently 30 production boreholes in use.
“The exploration, equipping of new boreholes and connection to the existing water treatment network are also high on the priority list – with up to 20 new boreholes planned,” said Hendricks.
Additional plans that the municipality will embark on include formalising nine informal settlements in Kouga with the first phase dealing with bulk infrastructure such as water, sewage, sanitation, and electricity.
The project will be funded by an Upgrading of Informal Settlements Partnership grant (UISP) at a proposed amount of R203 million over the current and future years.
Furthermore, Hendricks said that to create a better future for all residents, an innovative and dignified water and sanitation solution was recently piloted across the Kouga region. This forms part of a R22 million project that will see the upgrade of nine informal settlements over the next 12 months.
This project will be funded by the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements (ECDHS), as part of their National Upgrading Support Programme (NUSP).
“The implementation of this project will see nine previously disadvantaged communities with over 3 000 households be provided with decent basic services, such as water, sewerage, sanitation, and waste management,” said Hendricks.
The informal settlements to be upgraded are Donkerhoek, Ocean View, Lower Golf Course, Upper Golf Course, Thornhill, No R10, Shukushukuma, Polar Park, and Bungalow.
