De Lille welcomes R21m disaster grant for drought-hit Cape Town

The City of Cape Town has received a boost for its for its drought-fighting strategy with a R20.8-million disaster relief grant.

Mayor Patricia de Lille said the money from the Department of Cooperative Governance via the National Disaster Management Centre would be used to “respond to the immediate needs of the drought disaster that has occurred and to alleviate the immediate consequences”.

Premier Helen Zille has declared the Western Cape a disaster area due to the drought‚ which is the worst in well over a century.

“We are extremely grateful to the department for this contribution and thank them for coming on board to assist us with this very important task to supplement our water supplies‚” said De Lille in a statement.

The relief comes as the city aims to provide 500 million litres of water a day through projects that will cost R3.3-billion. It includes desalination‚ groundwater extraction and water reuse.

“A number of tenders will be advertised in the coming weeks to bring a range schemes online which will ensure water supply and avoid acute water shortages‚” said De Lille.