Cape Town - Day Zero will not occur in 2018 and this means taps will stay open, provided Cape Town residents continue consuming water at current levels and there is decent rainfall, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane said on Wednesday.
Maimane was speaking at a press briefing at the party’s federal head office in Cape Town.
"Just less than two months ago, the City of Cape Town was in a dire position. We were told that due to the worst drought the city had seen in over 100 years, its water supply was near depletion, and Day Zero, the day on which the taps would turn off was set to arrive on April 12."
"I am therefore happy to announce today that provided we continue consuming water at current levels, and we receive decent winter rainfall this year, Day Zero will not occur in 2018. This means the taps will stay open in 2018!"
The DA leader said consumption now sat at between 510 and 520 million litres per day, down from almost 1.2 billion litres in February 2015.
"This 60% reduction in consumption is an incredible achievement and outperforms many other cities across the world which faced severe droughts, including Sao Paulo, Melbourne, and the State of California," he added.