The City of Cape Town is clamping down on residents who have been violating water restrictions in the city. In a report by News24, one person was fined R2,000 for hosing down concrete surfaces while the country is currently battling with the effects of the drought.

The city has around 50 Water Inspectorate officers who have been monitoring the overuse of water over the last month. Fines have been issued on the spot and can go as high as R10 000.

Cape Town officials have been urging residents to reduce their usage for more than a month as the city’s water usage is exceeding 800 million litres a day and dam levels remain low despite recent rains.

The city found that many people have been using boreholes, however usage remains high.

Earlier this month, as a measure to reduce water consumption, the city threatened to ban the watering of gardens as usage in Cape Town was 29 million litres above the desired level.

The city released another statement urging residents to assist in bringing water wastage under control. “’Given that the City supplies water to close to one million customers and that most wastage occurs behind closed doors, we need residents to help us and to report and supply evidence of alleged transgressions,” the statement said.

It added that since the implementation of water restrictions, 383 notices of contraventions and 225 notices to appear in court have been issued.

Water restriction contraventions can be reported to: water.restrictions@capetown.gov.za.