The national Water and Sanitation Department says dam levels are still not at the required 85%.

CAPE TOWN - The national Water and Sanitation Department says even though dam levels are rising in the Western Cape, restrictions will not be lifted.

On Friday, the department met with its provincial counterpart to discuss relaxing of water restrictions in the province.

Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau says dam levels are still not at the required 85%.

The current combined average dam levels for the province is at 54.75%.

“As the department, we are still of the opinion that it’s still early days. We still prefer to have the levels, at least the provincial level, to be at about 85% or at least if we can just get to a time of review of the restrictions at the end of the hydrological cycle which is around September. But, obviously, we will continue to have these discussions.”

Ratau says the current level 6b water restrictions in the City of Cape Town will remain in place, at least until the departments reassess the situation next month.

(Edited by Thapelo Lekabe)