369 Capetonians fined for ignoring water curbs

The City of Cape Town says it has issued 369 fines in the past nine months to residents flouting water restrictions.

Fines range from R500 to R5 000‚ meaning the city may have netted anything between R184 000 and R1.8-million.

“Since [October 2016] the city’s water inspectorate and other law enforcement agencies have handled approximately 33 000 enquiries‚ contraventions‚ fines‚ notices and revocations of special exemptions‚” said Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for utilities.

She said the city has made a total of 7 099 water interventions since the implementation of Level 4 water restrictions.

“The majority of offences are related to wastage of water‚ [including] the washing down of hard surfaces as well as commercial and private car washes.”

Limberg said the number of fines had fallen lately. “This decrease could be attributed to the intermittent rain we have experienced as residents are less prone to washing their vehicles and washing down hard surfaces‚” she said.

The city’s dam levels are at 31.1%‚ while the province’s dams are at 29.5%.