Reducing Kouga’s dependence on Eskom and shoring up its groundwater sources in expectation of future droughts — mayor Horatio Hendricks has laid out the municipality’s ambitious plans to become self-reliant.
Though the development of a 60MW renewable energy plant has been identified as a long-term project in the municipality’s electricity action plan, short-term work to move critical service delivery infrastructure off the grid has already begun.
Delivering his state of the municipality address on Tuesday, Hendricks said to meet Kouga’s 59.1MW notifiable maximum power demand, it had become a priority to put measures in place to lessen the effects of load-shedding.
The DA mayor said the municipality wanted to develop a 60MW renewable energy plant, though an environmental impact assessment (EIA) would determine its energy mix.
“Kouga is also in the process of creating an energy farm hub to optimise infrastructure and energy reticulation and an EIA has been commissioned.
“Further to the energy hub farm, Kouga will soon embark on a comprehensive EIA for the establishment of an industrial park near the energy farm hub, and as such Kouga is also reviewing its bulk services to the planned industrial park,” he said.
In the medium term, he said a basic feasibility study for the installation of a 20MW solar photovoltaic plant was under way and would be completed later in 2023.
“My tenure over the last five years has been nothing short of a journey of personal growth,” Hendricks said.
“A series of life lessons about the human struggle, the human spirit, and the humanity behind all of that.
“My biggest life lesson in five years heading the seat of government is that people don’t want b*lls**t.
“The stark reality we discovered early on was that we first had to fix what was broken.
“With over R1bn of sanitation service backlog, just under R500m of a backlog on roads, a debtors book and long term loans that far exceeded what it could afford to pay, and no clue of the backlog on water infrastructure and services because the government that fell from grace never knew where the majority of water pipes were to begin with.”
He said the municipality, which covers the towns of Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay, Cape St Francis, Oyster Bay, Patensie, Hankey, Loerie and Thornhill, had been hit hard by Covid-19, the energy crisis and drought.
“I first have to remind my team that in the last five years, we faced nothing less than three crippling disasters: with a long-term drought, the worst we have seen in 100 years, a health disaster accompanied by economy-breaking lockdowns, the worst that the world has experienced in 100 years and an energy disaster, the worst we have experienced since Edison invented the light bulb.”
In response to the drought crisis, augmentation of the municipality’s reticulation system to support groundwater is also under way.
With 30 boreholes already operational and up to 20 new ones planned, two new water purification plants are set to be completed by the end of March to clean the water being added into the municipality’s system.
The new plants are being built in Hankey and St Francis Bay, at a cost of about R7m each, and will provide 2ML per day each.
To support essential infrastructure such as boreholes and wastewater treatment works, Hendricks said the municipality was set to install a 1MW photovoltaic facility.
“The exploration, equipping of new boreholes and connection to the existing water treatment network is also high on the priority list,” the mayor said.
“A professional geohydrologist will be appointed for a period of three years to manage the boreholes, ensure the protection of the aquifer and compliance with the requirements of the department of water and sanitation.”
ANC chief whip Vuyani Zana said the party’s councillors had opted to skip the address, watching it online instead.
Zana said Hendricks had blamed the ANC government for all the region’s problems.
“He is quiet about the current pollution of Seekoei Estuary in Aston Bay,” he said.
“Kouga township roads have potholes and are neglected.
“The energy mix, without talking to nuclear, is not addressing the energy crisis.
“Eskom has identified Thyspunt for a nuclear plant, which will not only address the energy crisis but will uplift the economy of Kouga.
“Why is he silent on it?”
HeraldLIVE