I think we need to provide clarity here such that people should understand the functioning of the sphere of Governance (national, Provincial and Local). You see comrades it is within the constitutional provision for supply of basic services. However Municipalities are required to develop the indigent policies on how this basic services should accessed. In this process public hearing and held before the Bylaws are passed. It is important to provide this background such that we could not just send wrong aspersion that we are making empty promises relating to basic services. One of the pillar of our priority is the rollout of Infrastructure services relating to Water, Energy, Transport and Logistics to ensure that this services are provided to the correct people (Indigent). You see the principle which the ANC accept is that among us there are people who are supposed to pay for this services and there are those that should enjoy the Free Services (Water, Electricity, etc). For example at national level the policy talks to provision of 50KWh per months as free basic electricity (Minimum Standard) but the Local Sphere depending on its capacity may elect to increase just like what City of Tshwane did and increase to 100KWh per month. This was done through their own Indigent policy.
The same analogy, tell me that the City of Jo'burg has an Indigent Policy which states the level of intervention it ought to provide to its own citizen. The issue here is that this are Local government Jurisdiction areas and these services could only be provided by the Local Government or an Agency through an Executive Decision of Council. The Local Government System Act make such a requirement (Law) not of the ANC but of the Country and in the process to the development of such laws we are all encourage to make submissions. I am presenting my point to say this are the unintended consequences of our own laws. What you see happening is Electricity is that it cannot be stored and water can be but unfortunately, people in the development of their areas Indigent policies are not taking into account the size of a Family Household, which differ from Peri-Urban, Urban, Township and Rural Areas. Because what the Judgement fails to clarify is whether 50 litre is enough for a Household of Seven people of for two people? To me the issue is not the magnitude of the water to be distributed, it is the potential risk of trying to apply a one size fit all approach when providing this service.The question is why Tshwane on Electricity provided a differentiated approach? Why Jo'burg cannot develop its own policy that recognise the vast difference in culture across its own area of supply? After painting such a background I think I could also present that the road towards a better life for all could not be easier one. The infrastructure to ensure that those services are provided is not there. We highly depend on the Lesotho Highland dam for the Supply and only the State facilitate such Transaction in which uMgeni Waters, Jo'burg Water and other Bulk Supplier of Water could trade and sell this water to our Local Sphere. The process which I am presenting is that we( ANC) or State does not own any of this Agencies but are Shareholders to enable that the price remain as low as possible. The other realisation and not based on untested propaganda for Cholera is that we proud that in this country you could move to a tap and got drinkable water which is the opposite in most Developing and other Industrialised Countries. My take being that the answer to provide such service is not as easier is done. Beside, how will you tell if you are providing such services if you cannot measure that. There is no way that Jo'burg could go public and claim we are providing free basic water and when we ask where can we measure such and not able to get a an answer. The Judge who declare prepaid meters illegal was drunk and Science tell that tomorrow another group of Citizen could claim we are not provided with services due to the fact that there are no measurements. Beside Jo'burg should report on how it uses it Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation relating to Bulk Services and that accounted in terms of quantity delivered and the cost it has costed to deliver and what revenue was collected to affording and what was used for Indigent and at What Cross-Subsidy level was that done? It is this same reasons we are providing that the City of Jo'burg has to explore before implementing and are these reason that led them to challenge the court ruling. The point relating to Privatisation, is an ideological on its own and we could engage until relating to the path South Africa took to avoid a total collapse of the State and its own Agencies. I think it was correct to partially privatise in order to raise Capital from Offshore Markets but keep the State intervention on course using the Shareholding Compact with these Agencies. I would like you to tell us how do you suggest the State to get Water from Lesotho, Inga (DRC) without laying Pipelines that requires massive capital Injection and at the same time fight with other pillars of Poverty? I would further like to be clarified as to who should pay for these services? The Tax Payers or the users of the Services? What Government interventions measures should be employed towards Indigent Citizens? I am possing these questions to illustrate the complexity of arriving at the simple solution which is not open for challenge by others. I am not prepared to pay for water to be used by Eskom in its own Generation Business but I am prepared to pay for Electricity price that recognise the Cost of Primary Energy. I am not prepared to pay for water used elsewhere but for the water I used and then the price if its high, should cross-subsidise the Indigent. The approach you raise here assume that all of us should pay for the services even if we do not have such services through Tax, which in unacceptable. Hence this Cholera issue is unfounded and could not be used to justify the point here in actual fact is out of context. I hardly buy bottled water for drinking and drink from the tap like most of my Villagers people does and there is no Cholera. What I find very problematic in this piece of document is the fact that there is no mentioning of what people from Rural area are exposed to when they could spend a week without water from the tap which is the main cause of Cholera not running water which people in cities enjoy. Hence my point is that we should give our government space to implement its Infrastructure rollout programme and then evaluate. After my own analogy, I do not think we should want to enter into a debate that seeks to assume that our own ANC promise for FBE, FBAE and FWater is correct. The ANC in the process leading to the development of our Manifesto, which what we are promising people was based on what people said we should prioritise and as such, Water Access, we have reached 88% and Electricity 80% and in terms of Access to free portion of this services we are 60%. Hence you could not see them being major priority. What is our priority is to Guarantee Supply of these services. Hence in doing so we should embark on the rollout of Infrastructure to enable us to provide Qualitative services. Hence this campaign should be directed at the respective Local Government Sphere (Jo'burg) and not elevated to national Status. Because Nationally the Stats could tell you that we are progressing well. An Agenda that seeks to divert our immediate task of ensuring a decisive Victory is mislocated. I remain, -- This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and conditions, e-mail legal notice, and implemented Open Document Format (ODF) standard. 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