Named and shamed: The streets where Cape Town is cracking down on water guzzlers

Thirty-six fines were issued this week to consumers who contravened water restrictions in Cape Town.

Issuing a list on Thursday of areas in which the contraventions occurred‚ mayor Patricia de Lille called offenders “rotten apples”.

Fines of between R500 and R2‚000 were issued for offences “including using potable water to wash a vehicle‚ washing down hard surfaces with a hosepipe‚ irrigating without permission and outside designated times for garden watering‚ use of a sprinkler‚ and water wastage”.

Areas where fines were issued were:

* Blackberry Mall‚ Strandfontein; * Van der Heever Street‚ Kuils River; * Building site in Mitchells Plain; * Riebeek Street‚ Cape Town; * Building site in Duinefontein Road‚ Heideveld; * Rosmead Avenue‚ Kenilworth; * Turfhall Road‚ Lansdowne; * Barnard Street‚ Bellville; * Hippo Lane‚ Zeekoevlei; * Vasco Boulevard‚ Vasco; * 16th Avenue‚ Elsies River; * Voortrekker Road‚ Parow; * Cambridge Street‚ Plattekloof; * Car dealership in Voortrekker Road‚ Bellville; * Island Park‚ Paarden Eiland; * Duminy Street‚ Parow * Durban Road‚ Wynberg; * Building site in Retreat; and * Victoria Road‚ Southfield.

“In terms of naming water abusers‚ the city will only publish the identities of residents or commercial properties once they have paid a fine or once they have appeared in court‚” said De Lille.

“Driving through various areas in Cape Town‚ I have noticed many dry gardens and this tells me that most residents are working with us to save water.”

De Lille praised businesses including the Tsogo Sun hotel group and the Vineyard Hotel in Claremont for their water-saving efforts.

“The Shoprite group has suspended all garden irrigation and washing of trucks across all of its facilities in the province and they are using bricks in all toilet cisterns to save water. An audit of all taps in stores has been undertaken‚ with self-closing taps being installed where problems have been identified.

“In our own operations‚ the city has implemented drastic water-saving measures. This includes not watering vegetation in our parks‚ issuing strict directives for the use of only non-potable water in cases where vegetation must be watered for essential purposes‚ and even shutting off the water supplied to fountains irrespective of whether non-potable water is being used.

“In addition‚ washing of the exterior of our buses‚ which was previously undertaken on a daily basis‚ was limited to once every two weeks.”

Some 270 exemptions to water restrictions had been revoked‚ and exemptions were being re-evaluated for “large single residential units‚ body corporates‚ homeowners’ associations and estates”.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE