On 24 May 2017, under Provincial Notice 112/2017 published in Provincial Gazette 7771, issued under section 41(1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, a provincial state of disaster was declared as a result of the magnitude and severity of the drought affecting the Western Cape.

Notice is hereby given in terms of the “Bitou Municipal Drought Management Policy” to limit use of water with immediate effect until further notice and to inform all municipal potable water users of the new water restrictions imposed from 31 OCTOBER 2017.

As a precautionary measure to ensure that this precious commodity remains available to its residents during this critical period, in terms of section 184 of the Municipal Ordinance, 20 of 1974, Bitou Council resolved to institute STAGE 1 water restrictions, FROM 31 MAY 2017.

On 31 October 2017, under Council Item C/5/28/10/2017 Bitou Council approved the amendments to the Drought Management Policy to be in line with the directive as received from Provincial Government. Our water resources are depleting rapidly and the water level at the Roodefontein Dam and the flowrate of the Keurbooms River are decreasing gradually by the day.