The popular water-collection point at the Newlands spring has been making the news lately, with a petition circulating around Cape Town to prevent its closure.
In light of level 4 water restrictions – and then level 5 – it was reported that the City of Cape Town had been considering applying these restrictions to Newlands Spring, located at Spring Way off Kildare Road.
Local businessman, Raeez Rawoot, created a petition to oppose this move, quickly gathering over 1000 signatures in support of continuing to make the facility open to the public.
“I just took the information, which stated that there was a possibility of the spring closing and we need water, it is a life necessity. It is unfair to close access to free water, while the natural spring has been around for thousands of years” said Rawoot.
But the future of the spring is looking good, and there are no current plans to prevent the public from accessing it.
Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral committee member for informal settlements, water, waste services and energy, confirmed there was no intention on behalf of the City to close the Newlands Spring collection point – but in the same breathe declared that they had received complaints from residents regarding it.
“The suggestion to incorporate water from this collection point into the municipal drinking water system or reroute it to the collection point at the SAB depot on Main Road, Newlands was not meant to imply that the collection point would be closed, only that councillor Ian Iversen intended to explore whether excess water or run-off could be more effectively utilised for drought relief. However, we have received reports of residents filling up water tankers from these points and would therefore like to remind residents that it is illegal to collect this water for commercial gain – it results in the forming of long queues and creates a nuisance for residents in the vicinity.”
As of Monday this week, dam levels were at 37.2% in mid-September, with the rainy season having largely passed.
Photography City of Cape Town