| City parks to be opened immediately | Capetonians will now benefit from additional activities through the access to parks | <p></p><p>‘Parks by their nature encourage social distancing and we are pleased that national government has finally changed its stance on this. Capetonians will now benefit from additional activities through the access to parks. This will assist in enabling daily exercise to increase mental and physical well-being during this challenging time,’ said Mayor Plato.<br> <br>Mayor Plato’s office wrote to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the end of May, requesting that the regulations be amended to allow parks and beaches to be opened to assist with social distancing during the limited exercise window of 06:00 – 09:00. Unfortunately, these facilities remained closed until the announcement by the President last night. <br> <br>The City’s Recreation & Parks is ready to open all parks within the metropole, including Khayelitsha Wetland Park, Nantes Park, Arderne Gardens, Company’s Gardens and Westridge Gardens.<br> <br>‘I am very thankful for the city staff who have been hard at work during the lockdown to ensure that our parks are ready for our residents. Teams have been carrying out maintenance over the past two weeks to ensure safety and compliance. I am sure our residents will appreciate having these spaces to exercise and enjoy some fresh air. In line with safety regulations, we appeal to residents to continue to practice great caution when venturing outside,’ said Mayor Plato.<br> <br>The City re-emphasises the need to continue adhering to the regulations of wearing a face mask, washing one’s hands regularly and practicing social distancing as a way to ultimately beat the COVID-19 pandemic.<br> <br>The City of Cape Town will continue to focus its limited resources on helping those who require assistance, on hotspot areas, and in conducting crime prevention operations.<br> <br>We can make it through this as #OneCityTogether.<br> </p><p><strong>End</strong></p> | 2020-07-12T22:00:00Z | | | | | | | 1 | | | |
| First clinic ‘overflow’ facilities open their doors | Statement by Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Zahid Badroodien | <p>The City of Cape Town’s Health Department today opened five new overflow facilities at various clinics, to increase capacity and ensure adequate social distancing as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>The facilities are at the following clinics: Elsies River (pictured), St. Vincent in Belhar, Albow Gardens in Milnerton, Bloekomboss and Wallacedene.</p><p>Fifteen additional overflow facilities will be opened in the coming weeks, and by the end of the project, at least 80 clinics will have been retrofitted as part of our COVID-19 preparedness plan to the value of R70 million. With this investment, an additional 153 examination and treatment rooms will be opened with access to all the necessary resources which are required to deliver the health service. </p><p>The additional 15 facilities are at Gugulethu, Manenberg, Kuyasa Clinic, Matthew Goniwe and Luvuyo Clinics, Nolungile Clinic, Dr. Ivan Toms Clinic, Ikhwezi Clinic, Hout Bay, Langa, Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Phumlani, Tafelsig and Weltevreden Valley Clinic.</p><p>As indicated before, the establishment of overflow facilities was necessitated to ensure social distancing and to prioritise COVID-19 related cases, while at the same time ensuring that general service delivery continues. </p><p>The latter is particularly critical, as we have noticed a definite downturn in the number of clients accessing primary healthcare services, particularly for child immunisations. </p><p>With the establishment of the overflow facilities, City Health will be able to further improve the existing COVID-19 protocols that have already been introduced thus far, and divide their attention equitably between clients requiring assistance for the virus and others who need to access other services in our primary healthcare basket. </p><p>The City therefore reiterates its earlier calls to clients to please honour their appointments for medical checks for chronic conditions and to collect medication where it is not delivered to them. </p><p>It is also crucial for our residents to continue being screened for conditions such as HIV, TB, Hypertension and Diabetes, as pre-existing conditions have proven to cause complications where persons test positive for COVID-19.</p><p>The sooner you are screened or tested, and a diagnosis is made, treatment can begin. </p><p>However, while the COVID pandemic is our current priority, we are also concerned about losing sight of the other health concerns that pose serious risks to the health and wellbeing of our communities if not addressed.</p><p><strong>So we urge residents to please continue visiting the clinic if need be, and to remember to:</strong></p><ul><li><div>make an appointment for preventative health services</div></li><li><div>keep the appointment and arrive 15 minutes earlier</div></li><li><div>expect to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms on arrival</div></li><li><div>ensure that only the person(s) n need of the service attends </div></li><li><div>wear a mask</div></li><li><div>adhere to social distancing</div></li><li><div>stay at home if they are not well on the day of their appointment and inform the clinic that they are unable to attend</div></li></ul><p><br><strong>End</strong></p> | 2020-07-12T22:00:00Z | | | | | | | 1 | | | |
| City has already distributed almost 7 000 kits to residents impacted by floods | The City of Cape Town continues to issue flood kits to reduce the impact of flooding caused by heavy rains as experienced across the metro in the past few days and weeks. | <p>Since 1 June 2020, the City’s Informal Settlements Management Department has issued 6 898 flood kits. It is expected to deliver additional kits over the next few days.</p><p>Various City departments including Informal Settlements Management, Roads and Stormwater, and Disaster Risk Management do their utmost to help residents by helping with emergency materials such as flood kits and plastic sheeting, constructing canals to lead flood water away from affected areas where possible, and monitoring high risk priority areas on a daily basis to determine flooding risks while giving advice to residents on how to reduce this.</p><p>‘We’ll be close to having issued 8 000 kits in this week. Informality in accommodation is a common occurrence in Cape Town, and cities across South Africa, and is brought on by increased urbanisation. The associated intense demand for accommodation brings about a number of specific challenges, such as unplanned settlements that are located on flood-prone, lower lying areas or in wetlands or retention ponds. The high densities without dedicated emergency access ways also make it difficult to deliver basic and emergency services in times of fire and floods. Often the settlements are formed on private land or land where services cannot or may not be delivered. The City does what it can to deliver housing opportunities, upgrade informal settlements and prepare for flooding and other natural disasters, with partnerships being key.</p><p>‘The provision of services is especially difficult this year because of the COVID-19 crisis with the risks of virus spread and City staff thin on the ground attending to all manner of service requests. Work continues and City teams worked non-stop over the weekend to assist residents, but we ask our residents and communities to help us by implementing some no cost tips to reduce the risk of flooding, such as reporting blocked drains and clearing gutters. Residents are also encouraged to make their own sandbags and dig furrows around their dwellings as a DIY drainage system. These are just some of the ideas which our residents can use to empower themselves to protect against the risk of flooding,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi.</p><p>Help to reduce flood risk:<br>• Clear out drainage systems on properties<br>• Raise the floor level of a structure so that it is higher than the natural ground level<br>• Make sandbags with a long-sleeved top filled with sand<br>• Dig trenches around the house to divert water away from the house<br>• Report blocked drains, intakes and illegal dumping – illegal dumping in the stormwater canals and sewers make flooding worst<br>• Waterproof roofs, clear gutters and remove dead tree branches<br>• The risk of fires during winter especially is also huge. Never leave an open flame unattended.</p><p>Emergencies can be reported to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialing 107 from a landline or 021 480 7700 from a cellphone.</p><p><br><strong>End</strong></p> | 2020-07-12T22:00:00Z | | | | | | | 1 | | | |
| City continues to partly protect customers from load-shedding, but reducing usage is key | Most of the City of Cape Town-supplied customers continue to be load shed on Stage 1 as the City is able to protect its customers. | <p>The City is monitoring the situation closely as it is subject to rapid change. Customers are urged to reduce their usage to reduce the strain on the electricity network and to enable the City to continue protecting customers from load-shedding where possible. Importantly, turn down household geyser temperatures to 60˚ Celsius, switch off pool pumps and switch off electrical equipment at the wall sockets. To avoid power surcharges caused from the electricity coming back on after load-shedding, switch off appliances at the wall sockets prior to load-shedding. </p><p><strong>Customers should please note the storm continues to cause outages due to infrastructure damage. Due to the large volume of service requests and the severity of some of the damage, it is taking longer to resolve service requests than usual. We thank customers for their support and understanding. We ask customers to also please trim or remove tree branches that interfere with power cables to reduce the risk of protracted storm-related outages. </strong></p><p>The City has deployed extra generation capacity from its Steenbras Hydro Power Plant and has fired up its gas turbines where possible to mitigate load-shedding especially due to the extremely cold weather that has been experienced. Electricity demand thus also remains high due to the cold weather and we advise our customers to please reduce energy.</p><p>‘Load-shedding having resumed is the absolute last thing that Cape Town and South Africa needs now. The impact of the extreme load-shedding thus far this year coupled with the national lockdown and COVID-19 regulations is having a profound impact on our economy, our lives and our wellbeing. The City remains absolutely committed to reducing its reliance on Eskom going forward. It has done much work in its fight to procure energy from independent power producers. We are all now especially paying a high price for the delay in allowing municipalities to procure power from producers other than Eskom. </p><p>‘Until all the processes have been completed, earmarked to take a number of years, the City will continue to do everything in its power to help Cape Town’s economy and its customers as much as possible. </p><p>‘The massive maintenance work on the City’s Steenbras Hydro Pump Station was completed successfully in time for the increased winter energy demand, and in effect the latest round of load-shedding. Due to the increased winter demand and lack of generation capacity from Eskom, the City is using the Steenbras plant primarily at the moment to manage the City’s higher winter demand during the day and off-peak hours. This is helping to mitigate load-shedding somewhat where possible. We are also deploying our gas turbines to reduce the impact of load-shedding on the lower levels especially during the peak hours and given the very cold weather. The City is monitoring the situation closely, and we continue to encourage our customers and residents to please reduce energy usage especially during the peak times in the evenings so that we can continue to help,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti. </p><p><strong>Steenbras Hydro Pump Station: How it works</strong></p><ul><li>Electricity generated during relatively low-cost off-peak periods is used to pump water from a lower to an upper storage reservoir. During periods of peak demand, the water is released back to the lower reservoir, thereby generating electricity like a conventional hydroelectric power station.</li><li>Hydroelectricity is produced using the gravitational force of falling or flowing water to power an electricity generator.</li><li>The Western Cape does not have a big enough body of water to produce the amount of electricity we’d need to meet all of our power needs in Cape Town and surrounds. We do have small hydro generators on schemes like the Steenbras scheme. This is why the City can sometimes avoid load-shedding, or remain on a lesser stage than Eskom has requested.</li></ul><p><strong>Steenbras scheme facts</strong></p><ul><li>The Steenbras power station was the first hydro-electric pumped storage scheme in Africa when it was built more than 30 years ago. Each of the station’s four 45 000 kW generator units acts as a pump-motor in one mode and a turbine-generator in the other.</li></ul><p><strong>Adopt smarter energy use habits in the home: </strong></p><ul><li>Turn the geyser down to 60°C. </li><li>Switch off electrical appliances at the wall sockets when not in use to reduce energy. </li><li>Use less hot water. </li><li>Shower instead of bathing. You will save up to 80% in water and use five times less electricity than heating bath water if you take a short shower. </li><li>Dry your laundry using sunshine where possible and try not to use the tumble dryer. For rainy days, use drying racks indoors. </li><li>Replace regular bulbs with energy-saving ones such as LEDs that use six times less electricity.</li><li>Seal gaps around windows and doors to keep heat from escaping and cold drafts from breezing in. </li><li>Use a stove plate that’s most similar to the size of your pot. An electric stove uses up to 40% of its heat when the pot is too small, which means you waste electricity. If you own an insulation cooker, bring your food to a boil then place it in there. The retained heat slow-cooks, saving up to 60% on energy.</li></ul><p>For more information on how to reduce usage, please visit <a href="http://www.savingelectricity.org.za/">www.savingelectricity.org.za</a> </p><p><strong>Reduce risk of nuisance tripping </strong><br>Residents are encouraged to reduce the risk and occurrence of nuisance tripping by switching off electrical appliances, prior to load-shedding and leaving one light on to indicate the return of the supply. </p><p>If customers experience an outage at an unscheduled time, or the electricity supply remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, please SMS the details to the City’s Technical Operations Centre on 31220. </p><p>Please continue to follow the City of Cape Town on Facebook and Twitter for Eskom load-shedding alerts. City-supplied customers will be directed to the City’s website on <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/">www.capetown.gov.za</a> for updates. Eskom customers should visit <a href="http://www.loadshedding.eskom.co.za/">www.loadshedding.eskom.co.za</a></p><p><br><strong>End</strong></p> | 2020-07-12T22:00:00Z | | | | | | | 1 | | | |
