Winelands cognisant of ‘Day Zero’

THE Cape Winelands district municipality, where three dams are critical water suppliers for the City of Cape Town, has announced that it could also be running out of water by May 13, what has now been designated as the date for “Day Zero”.

Mayor Dr Helena von Schlicht said this yesterday while speaking on the sidelines at the unveiling of the municipality’s plans to fight veld fires during the drought.

The claim comes hot on the heels of Mayor Patricia de Lille’s announcement on Thursday that due to improved water-saving efforts by city residents, Day Zero had been put back to May 13 next year from earlier estimations of March.

“We called the conference specially to show people we are there and that we want them to be cognisant that we live in a difficult period of a drought,” Schlicht said.

“Water scarcity has hit Cape Town hard, but we must be aware in the Cape Winelands because the city pulls water from three of our dams.

“We go with Cape Town’s (Day Zero); we stick to what they’re saying because they’re our neighbours.”

She said this fire season had threatened the region’s water security.

Schlicht said the district didn’t have the city’s water- measuring functions to determine when Day Zero would be for them, but if the day did arrive, the whole province would suffer.

She said the municipality had set aside R50 million for the fire season.