CAPE DROUGHT
Water, water ... nowhere
Helen Zille is taking charge of ‘Day Zero’ preparations, but how will she make water accessible?
For some time it has been fashionable to predict that the next war will be fought over water. But who could have guessed that the war would take place inside an SA opposition party’s city caucus — one that holds a two-thirds majority? The increasingly complex and confusing machinations of the DA in Cape Town are threatening to play out as farce and then as tragedy in the 2019 election. To recap: last June the DA began investigating allegations of maladministration in the Cape Town caucus. After months of bickering and counter-bickering, the party’s federal executive announced in January that mayor Patricia de Lille will face a full investigation for actions that "reflected negatively" on the party. De Lille is accused of misusing public money and verbally abusing staff, among other things. Then, a week ago, De Lille was stripped of her authority to manage the city’s response to the looming "Day Zero" scenario, when the city’s taps run dry. The date on which this will occur — unless ...
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