The easing of the stringent water restrictions will restore
international confidence in Cape Town as a destination for tourism and
investment, say business leaders.
But it will take hard work getting the message out there.
Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro, the agency that promotes tourism, trade and
investment in Cape Town and the Western Cape, described the lowering
of the stringent water restrictions as an important step forward in
re-establishing trust and confidence in Cape Town as a destination for
business and tourism.
`We will continue to work hard to get Cape Town and the Western Cape
back on travellers` consideration lists with positive, collaborative
marketing efforts,` Harris said.
The lower water price that is to go with the lowering of restrictions
on October 1 would be a great help for struggling businesses,
particularly those who used water as a key input, Harris said.
The move was especially welcome during this period of reduced national
economic growth.
`We urge companies to continue to use water wisely and to continue the
great efforts in building water resilience.`
Investment
Harris said having a water-resilient city and province was essential
to ensure future investment and growth.
The water restrictions have been lowered for commercial and industrial
consumers from a 45% reduction to a 40% reduction.
Commercial and industrial water tariffs have come down 18% from R45.75
a kilolitre to R37.50 a kilolitre.
The City has increased personal water use from 50 litres a person a
day to 70 litres.
Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, said what was needed now was to get the message out
internationally to revive tourism and the film industry.
`Unfortunately, the drought and the Day Zero story made people look
elsewhere for holiday destinations and filming locations. They may
have liked the alternatives so we will have to fight hard to get the
business back,` Myburgh said.
The chamber thought it unlikely that the easing of the water
restrictions would result in Cape Town businesses or residents
returning to former high levels of water consumption.
`Businesses and residents have learned to reduce water use and they
have invested in water-saving devices, tanks and other measures. All
this puts us in a much better position to cope with dry years in the
future. This is the message we need to get out into the world,`
Myburgh said.
University of Cape Town academic Kevin Winter, who heads the
university`s Water Task Team, believes the easing of restrictions will
also send out a message internationally that the City had got to grips
with managing its water supplies, despite below-average rainfall this
winter.
`The message it sends is that we have water now, it is safe to invest
here, it is safe to travel here. Yes, water supplies are constrained,
but the easing of the restrictions show water is better managed and it
is safe to come back to Cape Town,` Winter said.
Storage capacity
Winter added when he travelled internationally, the question often
arose about the City of Cape Town`s water governance.
`Talking to engineers, scientists and others in water governance, I
find they don`t buy it as easily as we spin it. They say yes, they can
accept and understand rainfall variability, but very quickly they get
into a conversation about governance, about water management.
`No doubt everyone overseas admires the turnaround in the water
situation, but they ask questions about mismanagement, about how we
had been abusive of water in 2015 and the drought years.`
On Wednesday, the combined

level of Cape Town`s dams was 69.4% of
storage capacity. Theewaterskloof dam, by far the largest of the six
dams, broke through the halfway mark to 51.8% of capacity.
Winter believed it was right of the City to lower water restrictions
as the dams filled up.
`I think the City is being responsible, both to ease stress locally,
and to say to the people of Holland, Germany and elsewhere, it is now
okay to come here.`
Winter said UCT partnered with overseas universities who sent some of
their students here. This brought as much as R90m in funding to UCT.
However, there had been a marked drop in numbers, and Winter believes
the water situation played a part in the lower international student
numbers, along with student politics.
`The numbers are certainly nowhere near what we`ve seen before.`
Winter believes that there is no reason to fear that the easing of
restrictions would lead people to waste water.
`Let`s test it out. We`ve got enough water to get us through the
summer to 2019, to the next rainy season, and we`ve got numbers that
the public can see every day. And if at the end of October we see
overusage, we can go back.`
But not all agree.
Environmentalist Patrick Dowling, whose household of four have reduced
their water consumption to six kilolitres a month, believes many may
interpret the easing of water restrictions as a signal to go back to
their bad old ways.
As part of the easing of restrictions, the City has set a new overall
water usage target of 500 million litres (Ml) a day from October 1, in
place of the current 450 million litres a day.
Dowling points out that Cape Town consumers have never once met the
450 million litre a day target.
Cape Town`s weekly consumption has been consistently more than 500
million litres a day, except for the weeks of May 7 (492Ml); June 2
(481Ml) July 16 (494Ml) and July 30 (498Ml).
Last week`s consumption was 526Ml a day.
`It`s a bad idea. As I understand it, there was a lot of lobbying of
the City by the hospitality industry, from business and industry, to
ease the water restrictions. And of course the City has its own
concerns about loss of revenue from lower water sales.
`The climate change science is saying there is a general trend to a
hotter, drier Cape Town and province, and that we could go down from
an average of 600mm of rain a year to 350mm. So the precautionary
principle should be applied. Yes, thanks for the rain, but also take
note that this winter`s rainfall has not been phenomenal at all,`
Dowling said.
Those people who had invested in rainwater tanks, greywater systems
and boreholes, would continue to use these, and so would not go back
to their high consumption.
`But for the rest, will they really still take short showers, and
flush with grey water?`
Taryn Pereira of the Environmental Monitoring Group believes the
easing of restrictions was a good move. She said 70 litres a person a
day was still a strict measure.
`People know the dams are filling up, they see the figures, and I
think if the City had not done it, there might be many people who
would say: `What the hell`s going on? Rain is falling, dams are
filling, you surely don`t expect us to stay with the same restrictions
do you?`
`It would have been a real lack of trust in the City if there were no
easing up,` Pereira said V.2458

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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