Swartland Municipality recently received funding of nearly R11 million to mitigate the effects of load shedding.
In a statement by Municipal Manager Joggie Scholtz this comes as the load shedding situation continues to worsen and the strain on municipalities grows to build load shedding resilience into their abilities to render essential services.
He said in January, Premier Alan Winde, made emergency funding available to all Western Cape municipalities to ensure the continuation of essential services.
“Swartland Municipality received a R10,945 million emergency allocation from the Provincial Government.
“This emergency grant is specifically given to help municipalities mitigate the effects of load shedding on essential services.”
According to Scholtz the essential services most heavily impacted by load shedding are the municipality’s water pump stations and wastewater treatment facilities.
“These services are heavily dependent on a continuous and uninterrupted electricity supply,” he said.
“With the emergency relief grant, Swartland Municipality is now in the process of securing additional generation capacity to ensure uninterrupted service delivery to all residents.”
Scholtz added that an additional eight generators will be installed at water pump and wastewater treatment sites across the Swartland region to ensure uninterrupted water supply to all residents as well as the continued functioning of its wastewater treatment works during load shedding.
The supply chain processes have been followed and the tender was advertised.
The closing date was 21 April.
“Swartland Municipality will update residents on our progress as we continue to build and improve our efforts to mitigate the impact of load shedding,” Scholtz concluded.
“We are grateful for the support and assistance received from the Provincial Government in making emergency funds available for this project.
“We will continue to work closely with the Provincial Government and to make every effort to reduce the impact of load shedding on the delivery of essential services.”
