Despite water relief in many parts of the country the Western Cape’s water situation remains in critical condition.
The Cape is said to have only 124 days of potable water left. Earlier this month, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said that the identities of all customers who pay admission-of-guilt fines or who appear in court regarding contravention of level 3b water restrictions will be made public by the City of Cape Town. She also said that the city would publish the lists of fines issued in various areas where contraventions take place‚ including street names but not street numbers. The city also planned to publish the “street names of the top 100 highest consumers for each category of domestic‚ commercial‚ and government user who are under investigation for contravening the water restrictions will be published‚ along with the water meter reading”. South Africans are breathing a sigh of relief after considerable rains over the last two weeks filled major dams across the country. On Sunday morning, water utility Johannesburg Water reported that the Vaal Dam in Gauteng had reached almost 100% capacity. The Grootdraai Dam, which is further upstream from the Vaal, had reached 102,51% capacity at the end of last week. Water from the Grootdraai began feeding into the Vaal on Thursday last week. The Vaal also receives a large amount of its water from Lesotho’s Katse Dam. However the Katse was said to be less than half full just over a week ago. Further north of South Africa, its drought-stricken neighbour Botswana also received a welcomed relief when its Gaborone Dam filled up for the first time in 16 years.