As Cape Town officials scoured the city on Thursday to ensure residents were meeting new‚ strict water-use quotas‚ they made a worrying find – a spring was being diverted to fill a water container which was then sold to consumers.
On Thursday‚ Level 6b water restrictions came to place in the drought-ravaged municipality. It means that residents are now required to use less than 50l of water a way – this to conserve as much as possible to ensure that Day Zero is pushed back or entirely avoided.
Wayne Dyson‚ the city’s chief law enforcement officer‚ said in a statement on Thursday: “In the Noordhoek area‚ officers came across a spring where the water had been diverted to fill a 2500 litre container. This is apparently sold for between R1600 and R2500.”
The case was handed over to the Provincial Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Directorate for further investigation.
But Dyson said this wasn’t the only incident they came across.
“A similar case of the diversion of a rivulet is being investigated in the Constantia area. There are many reported cases of water being illegally pumped from vleis and rivers‚ and the city‚ along with it's provincial and national enforcement counterparts‚ will investigate and action each reported case‚” he said.
Dyson said that City of Cape Town Law Enforcement officers – with officials from the water and sanitation department mandated to enforce the water-use by-laws - fanned out across Cape Town to ensure residents are complying with the new restrictions.
“Fines to the value of R4000 each were handed out to those who are unwilling to comply‚” he said.
Cape Town officials issue fines as they scour the city for water abusers
As Cape Town officials scoured the city on Thursday to ensure residents were meeting new‚ strict water-use quotas‚ they made a worrying find – a spring was being diverted to fill a water container which was then sold to consumers.
On Thursday‚ Level 6b water restrictions came to place in the drought-ravaged municipality. It means that residents are now required to use less than 50l of water a way – this to conserve as much as possible to ensure that Day Zero is pushed back or entirely avoided.
Wayne Dyson‚ the city’s chief law enforcement officer‚ said in a statement on Thursday: “In the Noordhoek area‚ officers came across a spring where the water had been diverted to fill a 2500 litre container. This is apparently sold for between R1600 and R2500.”
The case was handed over to the Provincial Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Directorate for further investigation.
But Dyson said this wasn’t the only incident they came across.
“A similar case of the diversion of a rivulet is being investigated in the Constantia area. There are many reported cases of water being illegally pumped from vleis and rivers‚ and the city‚ along with it's provincial and national enforcement counterparts‚ will investigate and action each reported case‚” he said.
Dyson said that City of Cape Town Law Enforcement officers – with officials from the water and sanitation department mandated to enforce the water-use by-laws - fanned out across Cape Town to ensure residents are complying with the new restrictions.
“Fines to the value of R4000 each were handed out to those who are unwilling to comply‚” he said.
Level-six water restrictions came into effect on January 1 2018. It is possible that the current restriction of 87 litres per person per day will be replaced with a 50-litre limit. Here’s how to u...