Key partnerships needed to address Cape water crisis: Minister
Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane says partnerships and patriotism are needed in tackling the drought.
Mkonyana addressed the Cape Town Press Club on the water crisis in the Western Cape and particularly Cape Town - yesterday.
"Water knows no ideology, or political affiliation. It needs the ability of wise men and women, scientists, technocrats, project managers, community-based organisations - all of us - to partner," she says.
Mokonyane says a four-pronged strategy - which includes desalination - is being implemented.
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She says they've been working closely with Cape Town authorities to find more water for the city.
"We believe that no option must be put aside. We need to work on it in the same way we have done in KwaZulu-Natal, in Nelson Mandela Bay. We must start working on off take agreements. Just as we have done with the other projects," she says.
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Residents in Cape Town have been warned of a looming Day Zero - when their taps will run dry.
But, the Minister says it can be avoided as long as people realise water has no substitute and do more to conserve it.
Meanwhile, The City of Cape Town says shops selling filtered municipal water without a license will be targeted in the coming days. This as panic among residents sets in.