Tshwane implements water restrictions

The city has been forced to implement water restrictions due to the ongoing drought across the country, heat waves and seasonal changes.

Tshwane has been asked to reduce consumption by 15 percent.

The city said it is especially concerned that 20 percent of water in suburbs is used for gardening. 

Infrastructure MMC Daryl Moss said if water consumption isn't reduced, the city will be forced to introduce more stringent measures - including water shedding.

"We will have to introduce further steps to force you to curtail your water usage. That will include increased water tariffs, especially at the higher-end usage and again we have the legal right to do that. We will increase the policing of water usage if we need to and in a last resort, we will look at water shedding," Moss said.

The Department of Water and Sanitation's Steven Notoane, however, said water shedding will be an absolute last resort. 

"I want to put it on record that it's highly unlikely that we will get to the water shedding stage, because we are managing our system. We are monitoring our water reservoir levels. We are communicating with Rand Water regarding the water supply and the pressure coming from Rand Water. We've got systems in place that will prevent us from going to the water shedding stage," Notoane said.