This is despite predictions that South Africa’s tourism capital
could have become the first major metropolis in the world to run
completely dry. The city’s rallying cry now is that it’s still
very much open for business and ready to welcome back visitors
after what has predictably been a dry season for its attractions
and accommodation venues.
The latest rainy period produced fairly good rainfall, bringing
dam levels up to far more acceptable levels. While restrictions on
daily water usage have been revised, some restrictions will remain
in place as a safeguard. Cape Town businesses have been very
successful in adapting how they use water and signage remains up
in hotels and attractions about how to limit water usage. Visitors
have been very accepting when it comes to playing a part in saving
water, as it’s viewed as the responsible thing to do.
I am based in Cape Town, am South African, and Area Director of
Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management at Protea Hotels by
Marriott and African Pride, Autograph Collection Hotels, and this
is a true reflection of the city’s ability to rise above
adversity. In fact, the potential long-term gains that the process
has afforded us could also provide vital lessons for other cities,
as the world moves increasingly toward the necessary
sustainability of our natural resources. This is about more than
water â€` we are a world-renowned travel destination, so
sustainability is always going to be a focus in our unique
attractions.
A leading international expert in environmental and natural
resources law and policy, based at the Stanford University Woods
Institute for the Environment in California in the USA, Professor
Barton Thompson has spent time in Cape Town lecturing on water
policy and is acquainted with both the city and its water crisis.
In an article written for Stanford Law School earlier this year,
he says Cape Town was a victim of its own success: “Cape Town is
ironically at greater risk because it has been excellent at
conservation.”
He adds that Cape Town has been a model city in reducing its per
capita water usage and has won awards for its green water
policies. However, this has also enabled growth of around one
million people moving to Cape Town over the past decade â€` without
looking for new sources of water. He cites numerous cities in
similar situations,

in the US , Australia, Brazil, Venezuela,
India and China.
In 2017, and in preparation for the worst as Cape Town headed
toward its hot summer season, and with the overall intention to
drop demand, the City of Cape Town rolled out a disaster-
management plan, the end goal of which was to still be able to
provide its citizens with water even if its dams ran dry â€` the
notorious ‘Day Zero’ scenario and the name given to the City’s
public awareness and phased-in activation campaign.
The three main touch points were: making it through to the Cape’s
traditional winter rainfall season in mid-2018, managing the
remaining water in the dams with dam levels communicated via the
media daily, and devising systems and spending money on
infrastructure that would prioritise bringing on-stream water from
other sources such as reusable and groundwater, and the
installation of desalination plants.
As a result of the aggressive campaign, Capetonians restricted
their personal usage to 50 litres per day, took short showers over
buckets to catch and reuse water, recycled washing machine run-
off, flushed toilets once a day, drank bottled water and installed
water tanks wherever space and funds were available.
The City’s Communication Director, Priya Reddy, has been quoted as
saying: “It was the most talked-about thing in Cape Town for
months when it needed to be. It was not a pretty solution, but it
was not a pretty problem.”
As a result, the city’s water usage dropped from 600 million
litres per day in mid-2017 to 507 million litres per day by April
2018. We really did need to make it alarming enough to ensure a
water status turnaround!
The campaign also really made us as hoteliers think twice about
water. As a nation and therefore as a city, we enjoy the challenge
to be resilient. When South Africans experienced the electricity
crisis a few years back, the lessons learnt became embedded in our
collective national psyche and we’ve become accustomed to
conserving energy. Likewise, for Capetonians, saving water has now
moved to a challenge we embrace daily as we hopefully mitigate
against ever finding ourselves in the same situation again. V.2629

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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