Cape Town - The hysteria and panic around Day Zero are totally unnecessary says DA leader Mmusi Maimane says.
Maimane was addressing a press briefing in Cape Town as part of the DA’s #DefeatDayZero campaign which is now being used to communicate critical information on the Cape Town drought.
He said Day Zero had been pushed back by four days, from April 12 to 16.
“We have put together a team of people to co-ordinate between the local and provincial government. They are working very well together here. I don’t see the need for all the hysteria and panic. In fact it is very much unnecessary,” he said.
Maimane said pushing back Day Zero by four days may not seem like a lot. “But actually it is a significant victory. It shows that residents are coming together and cutting water consumption. I said that if we worked together we could demonstrate what is best about South Africans, our incredible resilience, and we could Defeat Day Zero.
“Last week I committed to be completely open with the public about where we stood and what needed to be done. I committed to improve the communication and tell it like it is, because previously residents were not always getting accurate information. This is not what people expect from any DA government, and it cannot happen again.”
Maimane said they were willing to work closely with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as the leader of government business in Parliament.
“We are willing to work with anyone that can help us. The national government has a crucial role to play and they are needed in this crisis. This is not the time for pointing fingers and we need realise that there is no silver bullet,” he said.
Ramaphosa has yet to respond to Maimane’s letter.
Maimane also said the City had secured an extra 67 million litres from the Pal- miet-Kogelberg Dam to come on line early next month, as part of the 120 million-litre augmentation.
Last week it was expected that this additional capacity would only come on line by May, but now more than half will be available from early February.
“This speeding-up of water augmentation will help us greatly to Defeat Day Zero. This water will be transferred from the Palmiet-Kogelberg Dam, which has had excellent rainfall and is full. This has been a collaborative effort from the farming community of the Elgin-Grabouw valley and the City of Cape Town,” he said.
Maimane said that over the coming weeks the City would be reducing pressure in high use areas across the city.
“This means that residents will start to experience a noticeable drop in pressure for most of the day, and those in high-lying areas and in apartment blocks may have water service interruption for several hours at a time. People should not be alarmed or panic when this happens, and should plan accordingly,” he said.
Level 6b water restrictions which, among other requirements, set the daily water usage of 50 litres per person per day, will come into effect from 1 February 2018. Graphic: City of Cape Town.
Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson said the planned desalination plants are set to continue.
“The building plans for the plants are still ongoing. A large part of the work is constructed off-site while they are busy with outlet pipes that will go into the sea. All these plans are on track and we will have the projects add to the augmentation schemes,” he said.
Local Government MEC, Anton Bredel said the average level for dams across the Western Cape for the week starting January 22 was 24.4%.