Hospitality industry appeals to residents

Frantic calls as fresh water restrictions loom

AS Cape Town braces itself for more stringent water restrictions, the hospitality industry has appealed to residents to take drastic action to save water.

From Monday, Level 6 water restrictions come into effect, classifying excessive usage for domestic properties as being over 10 500 litres per month with the threat of having a water management device fitted.

The new restrictions discourage the use of borehole water for outdoor purposes.

The water levels in the dams are dipping rapidly, and the City has warned taps could run dry sooner than previously predicted, possibly as early as April 29, 2018.

On Christmas Day, dam levels were at 32% of capacity, 1% down from the previous week and average daily water production for the week was 589 million litres per day.

The president of the Fed- erated Hospitality Association ( Fedhasa) Cape Town, Jeff Rosenberg, appealed to everyone to “join hands and support” the efforts to save water. He said much had been done by the industry to save water, including redirecting sea water into JoJo tanks being used for swimming pools, and grey water to water plants, as well as in toilets. There are plans to install a desalination plant which would help take three big hotels off the grid by mid-February, Rosenberg said.

Although tourism bodies said they would only be able to give an indication of whether the drought had affected the level of tourism in the City, a guesthouse owner in Noordhoek said he feared that if the crisis was not resolved, it would have a devastating effect on the city’s economy.

“Visitors have been helping us save water as they are aware of the crisis.

“But if there’s no water they won’t come.

“They bring in and spend money thus boosting the economy and keeping jobs for those in the industry,” guesthouse owner, Michael Eedes said.

The City has come under fire for the proposed drought tax charge which it plans to introduce from February next year, as part of its efforts to resolve the crisis.

It said while many Capetonians had restricted their water use, this had resulted in a loss of revenue “necessary to bring additional water augmentation schemes online” and to maintain adequate service delivery.

Disgruntlement over the drought tax has been growing with civil organisation, Outa, demanding the public participation process currently under way until January 12, be moved to January 15 or February 15.

However, mayoral executive committee member, John van der Merwe said there were no plans to extend the deadline due to the urgency of the drought crisis.

Another group, STOP COCT, which is also opposed to the tax, said its portal had collected almost 3 000 responses from the public which had been sent to the City.

Its Facebook page has more than 2 500 supporters.

Spokesperson for the group Sandra Dickson said there should not be a vote on the matter before the public participation process was complete.

“Before any vote takes place the councillors must engage and show proof of engagement with at least 300 people in their ward,” she added.

Van der Merwe said approximately 5 900 comments had been submitted to the City.

“If we lower our water usage and the City keeps on working hard to make additional water supply available, we can avoid day zero, but only if we work together. There are so many water users who have done a superb job to cut their water usage. Those who have not done so continue to place us all in danger,” said Mayor Patricia de Lille.