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Meantime, with water rationing underway, and dire warnings of “day zero” when supply will run completely dry, enterprising profiteers are taking advantage of the shortage. Water restrictions, threats of prosecution and a sense of panic have some residents willing to pay for alternative water supplies for gardening, swimming pools and flushing toilets.

Water and Sanitation Department spokesman Sputnik Ratau said the government was the custodian or trustee of water resources, including dams, rivers, lakes, pans, wetlands and groundwater. “It is illegal to sell water. The only case in which water is sold legally is as bottled water,” he said. “Use of water without an authorization is a serious offence, which carries a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment or a fine.” (Times Live)

Yields in the region’s wine beverage market will be down as much as 25% to 50% next year according to two major industry players last week. A significant drop in yield on “an already unprofitable model”, means the industry will take a serious hit in 2018. The lack of rain during winter has left vines across the Cape without the required water reserves through summer (MoneyWeb).

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