Western Cape Premier. Helen Zille. Reuters/Mark Wessels
Western Cape Premier. Helen Zille. Reuters/Mark Wessels
It would seem Helen Zille is a huge fan of the phrase ‘do as I say, not as I do’. The Western Cape Premier has not been meeting the water usage targets she has strictly encouraged Capetonians to follow.
The expenditure was revealed on Thursday by public works MEC Donald Grant‚ responding to a question in the provincial legislature regarding the four people who live in the Zille homestead.
Currently, each resident of Cape Town is being asked to use just 87 litres of water per day as the Mother City fights against the crippling drought that has rocked the province in the last six months.
Mayor Patricia de Lille has slapped Level 5 water restrictions upon CPT, which has seen citizens scramble to save water by any desperate measure they can. However, it seems the Premier of the Province just hasn’t been getting the memo.
(According to MEC Donald Grant in the TimesLive)
The double standards – or dare we say, ‘fluid’ interpretation of the rules – don’t end there. Grant also revealed that Zille and family have installed a water purification for a stream that runs behind their residence: The installation set the tax-payer back by R92,000.
Everyone has a right to make a defence, and that’s what we’re giving Helen Zille. Via her spokesman Michael Mpofu: He claims this is actually a conservational move by the WC Premier, who is no longer using city resources.
“Leeuwenhof has a natural spring that flows underneath it from the Table Mountain. So the plan is to purify that and replace the municipal water. If she is cut off from the system‚ how is she wasting?”
It seems like a legitimate reason. But almost feels like a philosophical question without a right or wrong answer. A bit like ‘if a tree falls in the woods when no-one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound?’
Or more like; ‘if Helen Zille leaves the tap running whilst brushing her teeth, how much does it cost the city?’