The Overstrand Local Municipality in the Western Cape has set the bar high in terms of water service delivery, after it acquired a score of 101% on the Department of Water and Sanitation 2023 No Drop report.
The report measures the performance of Water Service Authorities for the 2021/2022 financial year.
From strategies and implementation to asset management and technical compliance, the Overstrand Municipality scored 100% on all criteria except compliance and performance, where it scored 74%.
Director for Infrastructure and Planning Stephen Müller said the municipality’s success relied on a number of factors, mainly having the right people for the right job and ”doing things by the book”.
Around 5% of the land mass of Overstrand can be considered urban, and it’s only these urban areas that are supplied with water by the Municipality.
The other parts are made of mainly farms and nature reserves, Müller said.
Regarding informal settlements in Overstrand, Müller, an engineer by profession, explained they were subsidised by the national government and given free water through the indigent policy or by an emergency services subsidy.
Müller did note that having a population of around 120,000 people and a smaller municipality did help, as problems were not quantified on such a large scale as it is with Cape Town or Durban.
“We are not the biggest municipality but we are not the smallest either. Hermanus is our most developed town.
“When it comes to the report, I think we just try to keep it simple. Having the right people in for the right jobs makes a difference. We have the right engineers and support staff like plumbers to go along with the job.
“Also another important aspect is funding. Around 10-15% of our funding for water is from the National government and the rest is raised by us through loans and revenue collection,” Müller said.
Informal settlements in Overstrand, which account for about 13 communities, receive their water through subsidies from the national government, Müller explained.
People living in informal settlements are also entitled to waste collection, Müller added.
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