The City of Cape Town has under criticism for the use of the term 'Day Zero' to describe the day the City runs out of water. According to Eyewitness News (EWN), cooperative governance minister Des van Rooyen told MPs in Parliament on Wednesday that the term 'Day Zero' is confusing, as it has no scientific basis.
He reportedly said the term, which is used to describe the day the City runs out of water, even caused confusion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"We don't want to communicate ambiguity, we don't want to communicate messages that will confuse people," he reportedly said.
The EFF reportedly believes the City has exaggerated its water crisis.
"It think this fear-mongering is ridiculous and I think it is inhumane what the City of Cape Town has done," EFF MP Nazier Paulsen reportedly said.
The City's Peter Flower reportedly said the term was coined on social media and is used to refer to the day when the taps will be turned off.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Van Rooyen criticised the Western Cape provincial government for not using enough of its disaster relief budget.
According to the Mail & Guardian, Van Rooyen said that the provincial government had used 24 percent of the R74.8-million allocated to it by Treasury on disaster relief. This has made it more difficult for him to lobby Treasury for more disaster funding, he reportedly said.
Van Rooyen reportedly said an interministerial task team would soon decide whether the drought in the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape would also be declared a disaster.
Last week, Western Cape premier Helen Zille said there was now a 60% chance that Day Zero would happen, and that it could still be avoided, according to eNCA. She said schools and hospitals will not close if Day Zero arrives.