What will you do if Cape Town runs out of water?
A well-run city does not run out of water.
How full are the dams?
[A usable] 17.6%.
How full would they have to be to avoid running out of water?
That's on the assumption that we're going to rely on rainwater to fill the dams. We are looking at other sources.
What other sources?
To answer your question, we'll need at least 55% to 60% of water in our dams.
By March?
We know because of climate change and weather patterns that March may not see us at that level.So you will run out of water?
No, because of the plans we've put in place.
What plans?
An aggressive communications campaign ...
You need more than that, surely?
The second is, how do we continue to make sure we've got water available for the residents?If the dams run dry?
We've got three aquifers.
Are they being tapped?
We have put infrastructure in place.
What percentage of your needs will they satisfy?
We will get about 250million litres per day.
How much do you need?
About 500 million litres. The other 250 million litres will come from desalination.
When will this be running?
It will take some time. As an interim measure we'll use a desalination boat parked in the sea.
Why did you wait to reach crisis point?
We have not waited for crisis point.Didn't you say it was a crisis?
Of course we have a crisis, because we don't have our normal water.
How could a world-class city allow such a crisis to happen?
You want me to say we don't have a plan. We do have a plan.
Why didn't you use it to avert a crisis?
We spend R6.5-billion a year on infrastructure for basic needs ...And you didn't have enough to implement a water plan?
No, no, we do have the money. I will not allow a well-run city to run out of water. You can only say we don't have a plan if we run out of water. We will not run out of water.
You're perilously close, though.
No, we're not. In a well-run city you make a plan to deal with emergencies. This is an emergency, this is a crisis, and we have a plan...