The Western Cape government is aiming to provide all Garden Route households with access to electricity, clean water, sanitation and waste removal services.
This was announced by local government MEC Anton Bredell at the Garden Route special extended district co-ordinating forum meeting on Monday.
Bredell was joined by co-operative governance minister Velenkosini Hlabisa and sports minister Gayton McKenzie.
“We owe it to every citizen to have [access to] water, sanitation, refuse removal and energy..,” Bredell said.
“That is what we as a government owe and the question is how we get it there.”
He said his department would introduce a dignity policy, developed in the past two years in collaboration with Stellenbosch University.
The dignity policy or dignity basket contains research on what basic services a person needs to have a dignified life.
A report will be released once the research is complete.
“I’m going to sit with municipalities and we are going to discuss it, and I hope the Garden Route municipality will take up this dignity basket, and let’s debate the issues in that because at the end of the day, when we run into people, they ask for water because they pay for it.
“We as the government must see to it that all citizens get water in their houses, they get power in their houses, because that speaks to dignity.”
Bredell said land availability for housing was also crucial.
Hlabisa said that national and provincial governments were obliged by law to support and strengthen municipalities.
The Herald
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