Imagine this,

In 10 weeks engineers will turn off water for a million homes as this South African city reacts to one-in-384-year drought. The rich are digging boreholes, more are panic-buying bottled water, and the army is on standby

The head of Cape Town’s disaster operations centre is drawing up a plan he hopes he never has to implement as this South African city on the frontline of climate change prepares to be the first in the world to turn off the water taps.

“We’ve identified four risks: water shortages, sanitation failures, disease outbreaks and anarchy due to competition for scarce resources,” says Greg Pillay. “We had to go back to the drawing board. We were prepared for disruption of supply, but not a no-water scenario. In my 40 years in emergency services, this is the biggest crisis.”

The plan – being drawn up with the emergency services, the military, epidemiologists and other health experts – is geared towards Day Zero, the apocalyptically named point when water in the six-dam reservoir system falls to 13.5% of capacity.

At this critical level – currently forecast for 16 April – piped supply will be deemed to have failed and the city will dispatch teams of engineers to close the valves to about a million homes – 75% of the city.

“It’s going to be terrifying for many people when they turn on the tap and nothing comes out,” says Christine Colvin, freshwater manager for WWF and a member of the mayor’s advisory board.

In place of piped water, the city will establish 200 water collection points, scattered around the city to ensure the legally guaranteed minimum of 25 litres per person per day within 200 metres of every citizen’s home.

Sound like Nairobi, Mombasa or Kisumu.

What a $hithole city cape town is. All down to poor planning then they blame it on "worst drought in 100yrs".

Does it mean that Nairobi and Mombasa are not considered major cities? People go for weeks without drinking water in this two cities and no one gives an eff about it.

Hehe even Cairo has no water? And the river Nile passes right through the city? All they need to do is tap the fresh water some 5km before the river gets to the city, before it becomes polluted. Just how dumb are the city authorities?

hakuna ma-Lorry za Clean water? na Ken Tank kibao huko? But really... this has been coming. In 2013 I had the pleasure to go to cape town and decided to do a trip on Table mountain. When I came across this thing

I overheard a conversation. The mzungu man (hand on the right) was talking to that lady (purple and blue shirt) about the water situation. He said maji itakwisha in less than 5 years coz people have not thought of what to do with cape towns growing population. It's really sad that something that people were discussing in 2013 came to be. I actually detected some racial undertone in his messaging but really our people need to style up (regardless of whether Cape Town is under DA or ANC)

Table mountain ni huko juu ya milima(flats) where the coloreds were thrown to during apartheid? Concentrated poverty-there are no jobs just gang violence. Under apartheid the coloreds were a bit privileged so I guess ANC does not have the time for them. Siasa mbaya maisha mbaya.

Anyway Nairobi also has the same water challenge. In the 1820's there was a decade long drought which made the Kambas become long distance traders. If such a drought recurred then Nairobi would similarly run out of water.

Dude, who suggested that they can't?