Cape Town rings in new year with level SIX water curbs

Capetonians will have to reduce water use even more in the new year.

The City of Cape Town’s level 6 restrictions‚ which will come into force on January 1‚ will restrict residential households to 10‚500 litres a month and compel non-residential customers to cut their water consumption by 45% compared with 2015.

The agricultural sector has been ordered to reduce water usage by 60%‚ sparking a warning on Tuesday from Agri-Western Cape spokesman Jeanne Boshoff that farmers would have to restrict themselves to higher-value crops.

“This has already resulted in less vegetables being planted in the Ceres area‚ and to fruit trees being cut back. This means smaller crops‚ which is putting the entire agricultural sector in the Western Cape under enormous pressure‚” she said.

A notice in the government gazette said: “In view of the ongoing dire drought situation‚ the director: water and sanitation of the City of Cape Town hereby gives notice of level 6 water restrictions and measures.”

As well as the restrictions on the use of municipal water‚ the notice says: “The use of borehole water for outdoor purposes is discouraged in order to preserve groundwater resources. Borehole/wellpoint water should rather be used for toilet flushing.”

Houses that used more than 10‚500 litres of water a month‚ as well as complexes using more than that per unit‚ would be “prioritised for enforcement”.

Mayor Patricia De Lille told a city council meeting on Tuesday that a drought levy will be introduced in the new year.

The proposed drought charge‚ to be implemented from February 1 if finance minister Malusi Gigaba gives the go-ahead‚ is aimed at residents who own properties valued at over R400 000 and commercial properties valued at over R50 000.

A resident with a property valued at R600 000 can expect to pay R35 a month and a commercial property owner whose building is valued at R500 000 may pay R60 a month.

“The reason for this is simple: our survival‚ we all simply need water to survive‚” De Lille told the council. She added that lower water consumption meant the city council was facing a R1.7-billion shortfall in water revenue.

“Without this critical income we will be unable to fund not only all of the proposed water augmentation programmes‚ but also the basic operations required to provide water and sanitation services to the people of Cape Town‚” said De Lille.