Beaufort West 'Day Zero' drought claims not true - Western Cape government
13 November 2017
Cape Town – The Western Cape government has denied claims that Beaufort West, a town of about 37 000 residents, has reached "Day Zero" in the water crisis in the region.
The town "has simply run out of surface water", said James-Brent Styan, spokesperson for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell.
"No, Day Zero has not arrived. But the town has relied on boreholes and a water reclamation plant for a long time and continues to do so," Styan said.
The town has 32 operational boreholes, he added.
Styan was responding to claims on social media that Beaufort West had run out dam water.
He said other areas, such as Kannaland, Knysna and Bitou were worse off.
"The provincial disaster management centre has been activated and continues to monitor the situation across the province," said Styan.
In October, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said the City of Cape Town anticipated that the supply of municipal water would run out around March 2018.
She said if consumption was not reduced to the required levels of 500 million litres of collective use per day, "we are looking at about March 2018 when supply of municipal water would not be available".
At the time, collective water use figures stood at 618 million litres per day.
De Lille was speaking at the unveiling of the City's critical water shortages disaster plan.
In October, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane urged De Lille and Bredell to address water losses due to leaks to further prevent unnecessary wastage.
