Mmusi Maimane’s defeat day zer

Trouble by the bucket-full: Maimane hands out buckets to residents of Constantia

Mmusi Maimane’s defeat day zero campaign starts with a PR own goal

The DA leader was dragged on social media for beginning his defeat day zero campaign in Constantia – an affluent area of Cape Town

Mmusi Maimane’s defeat day zer

Trouble by the bucket-full: Maimane hands out buckets to residents of Constantia

Shame, Mmusi. We can see you’re trying to help Cape Town. But, as social media users were keen to point out today, you’ve probably scored an own goal in your defeat day zero campaign, here.

The leader of the Democratic Alliance took his message to Constantia today. The swanky millionaire’s playground probably wasn’t the best place to launch his disaster management plan.

Defeat day zero campaign off to a shaky start

He was in Constantia Mall to hand out buckets to local residents, as the region is full of wasteful water users. He wants those in the suburb to put buckets in their bathrooms, to collect grey water and use it for flushing. However, it would seem his message has fell flat…

In his new ‘defeat day zero’ shirt, Maimane was doing his best to take the fight to the water guzzlers. On paper, it made sense. In reality, it was a very ill-conceived move. Handing out free resources to people who can easily afford them isn’t a good look.

A selection of Facebook comments underneath Maimane’s post reflected how the general public felt about his first attempt to defeat day zero. Twitter wasn’t too impressed, either…

When will day zero hit Cape Town?

Mr Maimane is stepping up his attempts to save Cape Town from an almost-inevitable water shutdown. Day zero, forecast for 12 April 2018, is the day that the taps will be cut off, and no water will flow through the city and its suburbs.

With dam levels barely above 25% in the municipality, it is a question of ‘when, and not if’ the shutdown hits the Mother City. Mmusi is hellbent on defeating day zero. But the odds are firmly stacked against him and this mission.