MARTIN SEEMUNGAL:

The Bayside Mall has installed tanks to collect rainwater from the roof and most of the taps in the bathrooms have been turned off. There are notices everywhere. Those efforts combined with a drastic cut to the agricultural sector have kept Day Zero at bay. Meanwhile, other Capetonians have never been fortunate enough to be carefree about water. In the poor, predominately black and mixed race townships on the outskirts of Cape Town water has been an issue for decades. Many of the houses that have it simply can't afford to pay the bills. So a few years ago the city installed meters to make certain people weren't using more water than they could pay for. Mzamo Kwezi in Gugulethu township says if the family goes beyond its 350 litre a day quota, the supply is automatically shut. The family doesn't have the money to pay for tanks to capture rainwater. Or for the transport to fetch water from a spring. Goshi kwezi says when the water is cut it often doesn't come back for days.