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With the water soon to run dry in Cape Town, both government and citizen have had a lot to say. What are your thoughts?
Yet again Day Zero has been moved closer, with Cape Town's taps to be officially turned off on April 12.
This comes after water usage spiked in the city to 618 million litres a day. This is 118 million litres more than was originally intended.
With the stricter restrictions, citizens are only allowed to use a maximum of 50 litres per day. This is 37 litres less than the current restriction of 87 litres per day.
Is the government asking for too much from its citizens, and is it a little too late?
Now that you know how other people around the country feel, let us know your thoughts about the water crisis?
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What Can We Expect?
In addition to the 50 litres per person per day, people are still expected to adhere to the previous level 6 restriction limits. According to Level 6 restrictions, households using more than 10 500 litres per month will be fined. Along with this, all non-residential properties are expected to reduce their water consumption by 45%. Agricultural users are expected to reduce their consumption by 60%. Water restriction metres are continuously being installed at households around the city and residents are encouraged to get water-saving shower heads. According to De Lille on Thursday, the 'punitive charges' could really force residents to dig deep into their pockets.Important Information
- It is expected that households that use up to 6 000 litres of water per month‚ currently paying R28.44‚ will be paying a whopping R145.98 instead.
- Residents who use up to 10 500 litres will see the bill rise from R109.50 to R390.82.
- Households that use up to 20 000 litres will increase their bill from R361.06 to R1 536.25.
- If your house uses up to 35‚000 litres, your rates will go from R1 050.04 to R6 939.57; and people using up to 50 000 litres‚ will suffer a massive increase from R2 888.81 to R20 619.57.
So What Can We Do?
Let's be honest, you can't do much with 50 litres of water per day. This is, in excess, comparable to about two and a half standard buckets.The City of Cape Town has kindly put together a useful calculator for you to determine your usage!Here is a breakdown of what you can do with 50 litres of water per day.
What Does The Premier Have To Say?
Many people have been up in arms, blaming the City for their lack of planning. Some argue that Cape Town is in this situation because no measures were put in place when drought conditions were first recorded. According to an article published by the Daily Maverick, Premier Helen Zille 'tells all' about the current situation in the city. Zille expressed concern about three problems facing the city. The problems that Zille outlined are the following:- Cape Town's water consumption continues to increase over the 600 million litre mark;
- The SA Weather Service has said that there is no future predictions of rain;
- Day Zero has moved from being a "possibility to a probability".
"As things stand, the challenge exceeds anything a major City has had to face anywhere in the world since the Second World War or 9/11. I personally doubt whether it is possible for a city the size of Cape Town to distribute sufficient water to its residents, using its own resources, once the underground waterpipe network has been shut down," explains Zille.But is Zille justified in comparing atrocities such as the Second World War and 9/11 to the water crisis? Once the water is turned off, there will be a variety of other issues that will surface within the city. Things such as water theft, deadly diseases and criminal activities associated lack of water also may occur. Zille her expressed that the government are working on safety and security plans once Day Zero has hit, but will this really happen? Many Cape Tonians feel like the government is a group of people providing the citizens with empty promises.
What Do The Citizens Of CT Have To Say?
The local government has issued warning to residents of Cape Town, however many believe this crisis could have been avoided. Citizens continue to argue about being charged exorbitant water levies, over and about their normal rates and taxes. There have been a variety of different views that have surfaced on social media, many of them being negative towards the government and the whole issue. Here's what a few South Africans had to say about the water crisis via social media:
Now that you know how other people around the country feel, let us know your thoughts about the water crisis?
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