“No need to panic”, those were the words of Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu during a media briefing on Monday at the Rand Water office in Johannesburg.
Sisulu advised the media that she is aware of the water cuts that are currently taking place in some parts of South Africa and the impact it has on communities and schools.
She added that some parts of South Africa are facing water shortages but there is no need to panic. South Africans are advised to use water wisely and some of the causes of water cuts include the high temperature that the country is currently facing and therefore, this has as impact on water demand.
The minister said if South Africans use water wisely and according to its restrictions, there will be no need for water cuts. Weather experts have predicted that thecountry will experience heavy rainfall in December but until then, people are urged to use water sparingly and sustain what they have.
Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai said, “We have observed that the consumption, as we see it today, on average has shot up to 5 000 million litres of water per day. The normal and average daily consumption is at 4 368 million litres of water a day.
“We have been making calls to request members of the public to use water sparingly but we have not received a good response, to that effect we have imposed restrictions. We are simply saying [that] if we were to use water sparingly we should be fine.”
