Stellenbosch Municipality has imposed stricter water restrictions, limiting homes in Stellenbosch, Pniel and Franschoek to just 6 000 liters per month. This leaves each person with 50 litres of water per day.

The municipality receives two-thirds of its municipal water from the City of Cape Town by way of the Theewaterskloof and Wemmershoek dams but will make use of its own independent water resources by the end of March.

According to a statement released by the municipality, this will mean that the Stellenbosch municipality will no longer rely on the City of Cape Town’s water supplies. ”Our own water sources should be sufficient enough during this crisis. Every resident should do their part in conserving water and stick to the new water restrictions,” the statement read.

The new water restrictions imposed by the Stellenbosch municipality bans the use of potable water for irrigation and water features such as fountains. The city’s Water and Sanitation services will fit any borehole owners with a water monitoring device if they do not comply with this directive.

Stellenbosch is famous for its wine farms, and crop sizes have been diminished during the drought. 

According to VinPro, a non-profit company which advocates for wine farmers and stakeholders in the wine industry, many wine cellars are off the water grid and make use of water from dams on their properties.  The combination of extremely hot days last December and lack of rainfall has contributed to the suffering of the wine industry in Stellenbosch as well as the country’s entire wine industry.

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.