Cape Town - The Kannaland municipal council has defended itself against claims from the provincial government that it was risking public funds by outsourcing the provision of electricity and water services to a private technology company, InovaSure, which is setting up a solar farm energy project in the municipality.
Last year, both national and provincial treasuries independently reviewed the proposed R1.2 billion solar farm energy project for Kannaland and found serious legal and substantive concerns and questioned the municipality’s compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
In a statement responding to Local Government MEC Anton Bredell’s urgent court application against council representatives and senior officials to prevent “potentially prejudicial and unlawful transactions”, the council said: “No costs or liabilities will occur for Kannaland ratepayers.
“The entire capital outlay costs will be paid by overseas investors. In fact, the assets will be transferred to Kannaland, which will increase the financial position of the municipality’s balance sheet.”
Kannaland’s acting mayor, Phillip Antonie, said: “The technology company InovaSure has spent the past seven years interacting with the municipality with the goal of a future service delivery arrangement to ensure a constant, reliable and cost-effective supply of electricity without the negative effects of load shedding.”
Last year, Bredell instructed the council not to sign the energy security management and administration agreement with InovaSure.
On Monday, Bredell said: “The latest conduct of the municipality is not only unlawful, it also undermines the hard-won gains made by the province in respect of improving the municipality’s financial stability and sustainability since 2017.”
Antonie said: “Full details have been available on the Kannaland website and widely advertised since 2018.”
“The InovaSure Energy Vault project is supported by key stakeholders in the government such as the National Treasury, the Central Energy Fund and the DBSA. It is also supported by funding international partners, as well as a myriad local and international collaborating companies and organisations,” said Antoine.
Meanwhile, both the finance, economic opportunities and tourism and the local government standing committees of the legislature have invited the national and provincial treasuries as well as the Kannaland Municipality to discuss the current discord over the project.
Cape Argus