Policy Analysis of the Water Crisis in Cape Town, South Africa

Following a three-year drought, the city of Cape Town, South Africa faces an unprecedented municipal crisis. Residents are being asked to curb their daily municipal water use to thirteen gallons from their already restricted daily allowance of twenty-three gallons in order to avoid the impending Day Zero in which residential and commercial taps will be turned off for nearly four million residents. Though water consumption has decreased since January 2018, most residents have not complied with the restriction. This creates a point of tension in the diverse city that contains both luxury homes and shanty towns