Taps dry as municipality drowns in R1-billion debt.
Residents of the Kai !Garib Local Municipality in South Africa’s Northern Cape face collapsing services, frequent water interruptions, and potholed roads.
Residents of the Kai !Garib Local Municipality in the Northern Cape face collapsing services, frequent water interruptions, and potholed roads. The municipality has debt of more than R1-billion, most of it owed to Eskom.
The municipality’s Blue Drop and Green Drop scores have dropped, with nearly all of its water and wastewater treatment works marked critical or high risk. SA Human Rights commissioner Nomahlubi Khwinana has suggested the municipality be put under administration.
The National Treasury recently announced it would be freezing equitable share grants to 69 municipalities, including Kai !Garib, to “instil fiscal discipline and ensure that public money is properly managed”.
