Level 5 is fair to all

THE letter “Restrictions unfair” from Cosatu’s Tony Ehrenreich (September 11) refers.

Level 5 water restrictions are not targeting the vulnerable. The restrictions target excessive users in large households, the commercial sector and residential complexes. The restriction of 87 litres per person per day remains, irrespective of wealth or household size.

It is simple: Each and every person may not use more than 87 litres per day. The latest restrictions make provision for fining those who use more than 20 000 litres per month, but representation can be made to the City to increase allocations.

Whether the household is small or large, 87 litres is the permissible quota per person per day to get to the target of 500 million litres of collective use daily.

The national Department of Water and Sanitation has set a savings target of 20% for the metro, and this must be achieved through managing water demand. The constitution sets out the rights around access to water, with an emphasis on sufficient access. This is determined at 25 litres per person per day.

The City has communicated with residents on all aspects of the drought. Recently, the mayor released the City’s water resilience plan, which details the planned implementation of non-surface water solutions to mitigate scarcity.

We must therefore reduce our usage to 500 million litres per day of collective consumption, while at the same time bringing on board an additional emergency supply of 500 million litres per day to see the city through as much of summer 2017/18 as possible. Fairness has been a consideration throughout. Councillor Xanthea Limberg Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Water Services; and Energy City of Cape Town