{"id":62313,"date":"2017-11-03T15:35:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T13:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/weslander\/i-wont-let-day-zero-happen-helen-zille-20171103\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T20:03:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T18:03:46","slug":"i-wont-let-day-zero-happen-helen-zille-20171103","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/weslander\/i-wont-let-day-zero-happen-helen-zille-20171103\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;I won&#8217;t let Day Zero happen&#8217; &#8211; Helen Zille"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div contenteditable=\"false\" data-embed24=\"Images\" data-pos=\"middle\" id=\"2680540a\">\n<div class=\"slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-smallsrc=\"https:\/\/cdn.24.co.za\/files\/Cms\/General\/d\/6682\/611d35c1b69545fdaf4c3039e77a2446.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/weslander\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/bcc21a4ede45484fad4a23db199fd1ad.jpg\" title=\"MEC Alan Winde listens while Premier Helen Zille asks questions about finding a solution to fast track alternative water supply for Saldanha Bay Municipality. Photographer: Helene Meissenheimer\"><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">MEC Alan Winde listens while Premier Helen Zille asks questions about finding a solution to fast track alternative water supply for Saldanha Bay Municipality. Photographer: Helene Meissenheimer<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a very candid interview with Weslander, Premier Helen Zille said if a solution can\u2019t be found to withdraw water from the Elandsfontein aquifer, then it is a real possibility that Saldanha Bay could close down, a disaster scenario that she will not allow to happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Western Cape premier, with MEC\u2019s Alan Winde and Anton Bredell, was in Vredenburg Friday morning 3 November to discuss possible solutions for the current water crisis with key local industry role players, Saldanha Bay Municipality and representatives from various government departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Saldanha Bay area industry are the biggest water users (60%). The area\u2019s alternatives for water supply are mainly groundwater resources, the biggest of which is the Elandsfontein aquifer which is also the location of the phosphate mine belonging to mining company Kropz. The local civic environmentalist group West Coast Environmental Protection Association (WCEPA) this year instituted legal proceedings against Kropz and the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation (DWS) regarding the granting of a Water Use Licence (WUL) to the mine in April. Although the mine closed temporarily in September, they are still dewatering the aquifer and recharging water back into the waterbody through a series of 36 boreholes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without water from this aquifer, should the Western Cape Water Supply System fail by March, as currently predicted, the Saldanha Bay Municipality only has enough water to supply around 38 litres of water per person per day and none for industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we can\u2019t arrive at a solution for Elandsfontein, then the possibility exist that Saldanha Bay will close down. Then we will have water refugees,\u201d Zille confirmed during an interview with Weslander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A scenario she said she as premier can\u2019t allow to happen and she is willing to make difficult decisions \u2018to save life and limb\u2019. Zille said she is confident a solution can be found to withdraw water responsibly from the aquifer in a manner that is measurable and verifiable, without putting the aquifer at risk. She emphasized that this would only be for a year during which all spheres of government would work hard to find alternative sustainable water supply solutions so that there will not be a repeat of the current crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zille has set up a meeting with WCEPA for the coming week. Saldanha Bay Mayor Marius Koen said afterwards, although they are very concerned about the situation, he has full confidence in the premier that she will mitigate the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a very candid interview with Weslander, Premier Helen Zille said if a solution can&#8217;t be found to withdraw water from the Elandsfontein aquifer, then it is a real possibility that Saldanha Bay could close down &#8211; a disaster scenario that she can not allow to 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