Speaker, Nelson Mandela Bay is experiencing its worst drought since 1989. Dams are at 31% of capacity and are predicted to run dry by August next year, 10 months away. There are projects on the table that will take between 10 and 16 months to complete, but there is no money available to allow these projects to start. An urgent application for funding assistance has hit the wall of co-operative governance at its bureaucratic red tape worst.
An amount of R1,6 billion in drought relief funding was requested in May this year. The request was ratified by the provincial local government department in July before being passed on to Minister Shiceka's department for consideration. The latter department is now insisting on details of how other drought relief funding made available in the Eastern Cape has been spent, before it forwards the Nelson Mandela Bay application to the Minister for his signature.
The national department's mistrust of the Eastern Cape government is understandable. But why should the Nelson Mandela Bay funding be based on the way other municipalities have spent or misspent their funds? The Eastern Cape government has failed to provide the requested details. The municipality itself has yet to make any effort to speed up the process. The mayor is only putting together a high-level delegation to approach national government. All spheres of government are guilty of failure ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]