According to the municipality’s spokesperson, Ms Prudence Magutle, the municipality last week brought an application in the Magistrates Court, for individual fines of R1 500 to be imposed.

“Presently, we cannot issue fines without the consent of the court, where our application is pending,” Ms Magutle told the Observer on Monday.

She says that the court may find that a fine of R1 500 is either too low, or alternatively too high, and impose a fine of its own.

She said that they were hoping for an answer from the court by the end of the week.
“The restrictions will fall away when we receive the necessary rain, and imposing restrictions are merely a precautionary measure, in case of no rain,” Ms Magutle said.

She said that the municipality must ensure that the 2013 drought, where the Middelburg Dam level remained on 27%, and very strict water restrictions were imposed, did not repeat itself.

“We therefor humbly urge residents to please adhere to the present restrictions of not watering gardens between 06:00 and 18:00, washing cars with hosepipes, and the washing of driveways and pavements with hoses.

Schools may only water their sport fields and grounds with the written permission of the municipality, while no applications for car washes will be considered at this time.

“Together we can beat the drought, and ensure water provision,” Ms Magutle says.

She however praised residents, saying that the municipality can see people are taking the water shortages very seriously countrywide, and also on local soil.

The municipality would communicate the official restrictions and fines to the community, as soon as the court rules on the application.

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