Did you know that Day Zero is less than three months away?
Did you know that it refers to leading a lifestyle with a lot less water than most Capetonians are accustomed to?
Did you know that as Capetonians, we have the answer to this crisis?
Monday April 16 has now been set as the date when taps will run dry.
And just as a vineyard has surfaced on the floor bed of the dried up Theewaterskloof Dam, so have DA leader Mmusi Maimane and Premier Helen Zille, in the hope to save the day.
Similarly, the ANC-led national government has been rather quiet about its management of water sources.
The constitution affords every citizen the right of access to sufficient water. Section 27(2) requires the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.
Everyone agrees that it is a right but our water sources have dried up.
There will be long queues, impatience and possibly even chaos at the 200 proposed water collection sites if Capetonians do not work together.
While the worry and preparations mount, reaching out a hand to your neighbour could help smooth the edges of a difficult situation.
The World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature in their first weekly Wednesday Water File, encouraged citizens to get to know their neighbours better and assist them, where possible.
Talk to your neighbours, community groups, body corporates, colleagues, boss, school principal and governing body about plans for Day Zero and how we are going to look after each other to get through this together.
You will never know what great idea somebody else has to manage the crisis until you speak to them.
We are all learning by trial and error how to use the least amount of water and then reuse it again, and maybe even again.
