Knysna is 25 days away from Day Zero

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina says ageing infrastructure, municipal leaks and climate change are key drivers of the crisis.

Relief organisation Gift of the Givers is already supplying water to communities like Rooikrans and Smutsville, where the shortages are hitting hard.

ALSO READ: Knysna water crisis ‘man-made and avoidable’, says DA

Johnny Douglas, Chairperson of the Knysna Municipality Joint Operations Centre, says last week's rains provided some temporary relief.

“About 39 to 50 millilitres of rain... [but] weather services have indicated to us that we will only receive good rain once again at the end of April.”

High-risk areas in Knysna are currently facing level three to six restrictions. Douglas says the community is pulling together, but some users are still consuming too much water.

"I must thank the community working with us to preserve water, but the consumption is still very high, it's about 10,000 kiloliters per day, and we need to reduce that urgently to 8,000."

With every litre saved, pushing Day Zero further away, Douglas says they plan to visit high-consumption businesses and residents to ask for their cooperation.

ALSO READ: Minister Majodina to intervene as Knysna water supply drops to 10 days

In addition to promoting conservative water consumption among residents, the municipality is also looking at longer-term measures for water provision, explains Douglas.

"We're now looking at about seven existing boreholes that we will refurbish and equip. We're also busy drilling eleven new boreholes."

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To listen to Douglas on 702/CapeTalk, use the audio player below: