More enforcement of restrictions ahead as dam levels continue to slip

26 March 2018

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the City of Cape Town (CoCT) are planning more blitzes to counter reckless unauthorised water use in the City as rain continues to evade drought-stricken Cape provinces.

Statistics from the DWS show that capacity of the Cape Town Systems Dams is on the decrease week-on-week, despite the application of Level 6B restrictions. More visits to properties are expected as winter arrives to ensure the little available water is “stretched”.

To date, the DWS-CoCT have visited 553 properties and confiscated 290 items and issued 215 notices for transgressing city’s water by-laws. The violations ranged from irrigating during daytime - including lawns for 10 hours continuously; non-payment of water usage; non-metering; over-abstraction; non-registration of boreholes and illegal sale of water.

At the same time, numerous augmentation plans to ensure water security for the region, are underway. This includes engagements with the CoCT regarding the site, electrical connection, connector infrastructure and the off-take agreement for a 10MLD desalination plant as an emergency intervention for the CoCT. 

Two water drilling rigs have also been deployed to the Western Cape Province to supplement the drilling being done by the CoCT. Both rigs are drilling at Theewaterskloof Dam.

Issued by Sputnik Ratau, Director Media Liaison, Department of Water and Sanitation, 26 March 2018