The drought is about to hit Capetonians in the pocket‚ doubling the price of water in the next two years.The City of Cape Town’s draft budget‚ tabled at Wednesday’s council meeting‚ proposes a 27% rise in water tariffs from July 1. And it will get worse in 2019‚ with a 30.45% increase‚ followed by a 22% rise in 2020-21.The net effect is that the price of water will more than double between July 1 2018 and July 1 2020.Xanthea Limberg‚ the MMC for water‚ waste and energy‚ told a media briefing the drought was to blame."Much of the increased tariff will be about recovery from 2017-18 [when revenue from water reached only 73% of the target as consumers slashed usage]‚" she told a media briefing before the council meeting. "It is also about funding augmentation schemes to adapt to the impact of the drought."With consumer price inflation (CPI) at 4%‚ other proposed tariff increases all outpace it: rates at 7.2%‚ electricity at 8.14%‚ sanitation at 26.96%, and refuse removal at 5.7%.The MM...
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