Water A Scarce Resource All Over SA, Not Just In Cape Town

"People must respond positively to water restrictions when implemented, reduce water consumption and look at water as a scarce resource."
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With 77 days until Day Zero, Cape Town and the department of water and sanitation (DWS) on Thursday were planning a joint compliance-monitoring project as the the water crisis continues.

HuffPost spoke to the Sputnik Ratau of the DWS, who emphasised that the water crisis in Cape Town should not be treated as an isolated situation – because, he says, water is a scarce resource throughout the rest of South Africa too.

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"We must not look at the situation in Cape Town as a separate drought situation [to the one] that the country has been experiencing over the past three years," he said. "SA continues to be a water-scarce country. Unless and until we have behavioural change that [treats reducing] water consumption as the first major step, SA will continue to be in this difficult sitauion."

"The department will look at new sources of water,while not putting pressure on the infrastructure. People must respond positively to water restrictions when implemented, reduce water consumption and look at water as a scarce resource.

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On Wednesday, Ratau saidthe current water crisis in Cape Town "should not be about blame shifting", claiming that the department and national government is doing all it can to help.