SAB's Cape Town brewery to bottle spring water as Day Zero looms

Image credit: Esa Alexander

Queues at the brewery's spring, where free water can be collected, have become almost unmanageable as the reality of Day Zero has dawned on Capetonians.

Now South African Breweries "has indicated its willingness to assist in the bottling and distribution of water drawn from the Newlands spring", according to a statement on Sunday from Michael Mpofu, spokesman for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.

He said Zille would attend a meeting at the brewery on Monday to discuss the rollout of the plan.

In a tweet on Sunday, Zille said she would also publish a summary on Monday "of what I know at present about how Day Zero, the run-up and the aftermath, will be managed".

I am following the tweets related to water. I am currently finalising an article that contains a summary of what I know at present about how Day Zero, the run-up and the aftermath, will be managed. It will appear tomorrow in @dailymaverick . Will follow with regular updates.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 21, 2018

Zille's intervention comes after Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille admitted on Thursday - the day before the City of Cape Town voted to relieve her of power to manage the water crisis - that Day Zero is now likely. The projected date is 20 April, though it is likely to be sooner.

Mpofu said Zille's first meeting of the week, early on Monday, would be with officials from national disaster management, the police, the South African Defence Force and the State Security Agency, among others.

"The focus of the meeting will be preparations for and management of Day Zero [and its aftermath]," said Mpofu.

The City of Cape Town told TimesLive on Friday that its plans for 200 water collection points around the city, where citizens will be able to collect a daily allowance of 25 litres, were still being finalised. It was unable to provide any specific information.

Reacting to the article on social media, readers expressed alarm that preparations were not more advanced.

Source: The Times

Read Helen Zille's article 'From the Inside: The Countdown to Day Zero' published on Daily Maverick.