The Western Cape Government unveiled a comprehensive 10-year Water Resilience Strategy on Friday, aimed at preventing a repeat of Cape Town’s 2018 “Day Zero” drought crisis while supporting the province’s ambitious goal of building a R1-trillion economy by 2035.
The strategy, spanning 2025 to 2035, commits to securing an additional 310 million cubic metres of water annually while conserving 40 million cubic metres through improved efficiency measures across the drought-prone province.
“Resilience cannot be built after a crisis; it must be built before one,” said Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, at the strategy’s launch in Cape Town. “This strategy shifts us from crisis response to proactive, long-term planning.”
The announcement comes as the Western Cape continues to grapple with water security challenges, having experienced both severe drought conditions that brought Cape Town to the brink of running dry in 2018, and devastating flooding in 2023 and 2024.
Dr Ivan Meyer, Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, positioned water security as fundamental to economic growth, calling it “a critical enabler” of the province’s Growth for Jobs vision.
“Water is not only essential for life—it is the foundation of economic growth,” Meyer said. “By securing our water future, we are safeguarding agriculture, unlocking investment, and ensuring that every community and business has the resources to thrive.”
The strategy sets several ambitious targets for the next decade:
• Reducing non-revenue water losses to below 25% across municipalities
• Achieving Blue Drop and Green Drop environmental scores of 95% or higher in at least 80% of municipalities
• Ensuring all Western Cape municipalities develop diversified water sources and updated master plans
• Guaranteeing safely managed water access for every urban resident
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The plan is structured around four key areas: water conservation and demand management, water source augmentation through technologies like desalination and groundwater development, infrastructure modernisation, and improved governance coordination between different levels of government.
Infrastructure Minister Tertuis Simmers described the initiative as “more than just an environmental plan,” calling it “an economic, social, and moral compact” to ensure equitable water access.
The strategy also acknowledges that current support for vulnerable households is insufficient, with Bredell noting that research shows existing indigent support programmes fall short of meeting basic needs.
The Western Cape’s water challenges reflect broader concerns across South Africa, where aging infrastructure, climate change, and growing populations strain water resources in many regions.
- Western Cape dam levels currently stand at 80.46%, down from 93.65% during the same period last year. The Theewaterskloof Dam, the province’s largest, is at 81.46% compared to 99.36% in 2024.
