Johannesburg residents told to cut water consumption or face fines

Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Environment, Infrastructure Services Department, Anthony Still briefed the media on water restrictions in the City of Johannesburg metropolitan and said those not complying with the water restrictions will be fined.

Water levels in the integrated Vaal River system have dropped below the threshold level of 60 percent.

The Vaal River itself is at 33.2 percent due to the ongoing drought and unseasonal heat.

Johannesburg Water said it will throttle the system in the evenings from 8.00pm - 4.00am in high-demand areas when those residents are sleeping. Throttling the system means reducing the flow of water into the reservoir.

"We are saying no sprinklers, at all. You can only use a handheld hosepipe. If we don't get actions from that, we will ramp Level 2 up to Level 3," Still said.

Level 2 water restrictions have been in place in the city since November 2015.