Experts warn that the good rainfall in early June does not mean that the rainfall in the rest of winter will be good – or even average – and have urged that water restrictions remain in place.

This comes after rainfall for April and May in the catchment areas of Cape Town’s two biggest storage dams, Theewaterskloof and the Berg River dam, was well below average.

Nicky Allsopp of the SA Environmental Observation Network (Saeon) said rainfall recorded in the first week of June at the Dwarsberg station in Jonkershoek was 120mm.

“But one good week doesn’t mean a good month. The long-term June average for this station is 500mm, so if we get the same amount of rain as we did in the first week of June in each of the remaining weeks, we will have what we need. But there is no guarantee that we will get that,” Allsopp said.

“This year we got excellent rain at this station in the first week of May, which measured 150mm, but then there was almost nothing for the rest of May. April and May rainfall was definitely below par.”

The Dwarsberg station in Jonkershoek is in the same catchment area of both the Theewaterskloof and Berg River dams. When full, these two dams hold around 67% of the total water in the six dams that make up the Western Cape Water Supply System.

“We’ve also had very low recordings of stream flow in this area of the catchment, below the long-term average. It’s too early to say yet that we’re going to have another low-rainfall year altogether. In the longer term it’s also too early to say whether we’ve entered a new ‘lower’ rainfall regime – but we certainly should be exercising caution.”

The combined dam level was 48% of storage capacity on Monday, up from 46.4% last Monday. The level was 31.4% this week in 2018.

But despite the good rain last week – or perhaps because of it – Capetonians have dropped their water consumption by 12.4% since last week, from 597 million litres a day on June 3 to 523 million litres a day on June 10. This is the lowest water consumption in the city since the introduction of level three water restrictions in December.

Environmentalist Patrick Dowling from Kommetjie agreed that level three water restrictions ought to remain in place.

“The water restrictions have already been relaxed and there has been no outcry from civil society about staying at level three. Some doubters may say this was a one in 300-year drought but other people will say it is part of a climate change pattern. In this learning period, a precautionary approach should continue. We definitely must not go too ‘bos’ with water at this stage,” Dowling said.

Dowling said that desalination and groundwater extraction both bring their own set of challenges, and thus restrictions are still a proactive step.

Dowling wrote in February 2018 that there were some good things about Cape Town’s water crisis: One was a heightened public awareness of the reality of the effect of climate change, and another was the “rapid water literacy” across society.

“People are interested, and it’s important to know that 25 litres weighs 25kg or where it goes if you flush it or what a catchment is and what happens in it,” he wrote at the time.

The average dam level in the Western Cape has increased to 34.9%, still low but higher than the 25.9% it was this time last year.

And in drought-stricken Beaufort West the Gamka Dam, which has been empty for two years, is now 45% full.

Anton Bredell, MEC for Local Government, said while that was good news, the drought was still a major concern for agriculture in the region.

“Many farms in the area have not received any rain yet.”

He said his department was involved in augmentation projects to provide more permanent solutions to the drought-stricken areas of the Karoo.

One was the rehabilitation of the Soutkloof spring in Laingsburg, and another was to find another aquifer to exploit south-west of Beaufort West.                                     

Many questions remain about the motive behind Stellenbosch farmer Stefan Smit’s murder, with detectives reportedly not convinced that it was linked to the earlier occupation of his land.

Smit was killed at his home on the Louiesenhof farm a week ago in an apparent robbery, with detectives soon seen scouring the property for clues.

Police said at the time that four armed men entered his home through an unlocked door and shot him.

“His wife and a family friend, who were present at the time of the incident, survived the attack. The suspects fled with personal belongings and have not yet been arrested,” said Lt-Col Andre Traut.

His killers somehow managed to bypass security measures such as a double fencing system with electric fence and barbed wire.

No arrests have yet been made and police continue with their investigations, said Traut on Sunday.

According to Rapport, detectives had not found the common signs of a “usual farm attack”, nor anything to indicate that it was linked to the occupation of Smit’s land. 

Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer previously indicated that there was no link between the murder and the sale of Watergang, next to Louiesenhof, which Smit’s family owned via a trust.

Watergang was occupied last year by backyarders from nearby Kayamandi who renamed it Azania. Following an application for an interdict to remove them, the municipality eventually bought the land from the owners at R45 710 000.

The funds used to purchase the property came from a provincial human settlements department grant.

Stellenbosch Mayor Gesie van Deventer indicated the property was in the process of being transferred to the municipality.

Community leader Midas Wanana said Smit’s murder had shocked Azania’s residents. “It is very painful for us. We have sent our condolences to his family. What are they going to do without him?”

Johanna Petersen, who worked for Smit for 21 years, wondered who had “kept the door open” for his killers as he was very strict about closing the back door behind him, she told Rapport.

Smit’s best friend Pieter Haasbroek, told Sunday Times that R200 000 had disappeared from Smit’s safe a few weeks before his death.

A reliable source who feared being identified believed the murder could have been linked to the missing money, the newspaper reported.

Traut told News24 on Sunday that they had no record of that theft case.

Family friend John Houston told the Mail & Guardian that the motive could have been a farm murder, a robbery or vindictive action in connection with the land occupation.

The provincial government has called for the establishment of a rural safety unit and safety summit.

The police are asking anybody who has information about the case to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

A long-distance bus driver was arrested in Laingsburg for overloading his vehicle by 46 passengers on Saturday morning, Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa said.

While the bus could officially seat 71, officers found 117 passengers inside at the time of arrest.

Africa said the bus had been travelling from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

The driver would be kept in custody at Laingsburg police station.

It’s been quite couple of days in the good republic, with the friction between the reformist grouping in the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and those in opposition, led and personified by Ace Magashule, erupting into a very public conflict.

Ramaphosa has been very reserved in getting visibly involved (to outsiders, at least) in the ANC’s existential crises. Since being elected leader at the party’s Nasrec elective conference in December 2017, he has repeatedly emphasised the need for unity, notwithstanding the continued internal assault on him, his kitchen cabinet and his reform efforts from within the organisation.

Magashule has undoubtedly been leading that charge. And if his statement on Tuesday, disavowed on Thursday by Ramaphosa, could have started talk about censure, his insubordination shortly after Ramaphosa’s rebuttal has now all but ensured that the confrontation between the two (or more) factions will come to a head.

On Tuesday Magashule read out a statement relaying details of a meeting of the party’s national executive committee. In it he said the NEC took a decision on expanding the South African Reserve Bank’s mandate as well as starting a process to instruct the bank to consider quantitative easing – printing money – as a means of alleviating pressure on government. 

Magashule’s statement read: “It was agreed that all deployees will ensure that resolutions of the 54th National Conference will be fully implemented in this regard the ANC NEC Lekgotla agreed to expand the mandate of the South African Reserve Bank beyond price stability to include growth and employment. It also directed the ANC Government to consider constituting a task team to explore quantity easing measures to address intergovernmental debts to make funds available for developmental purposes.”

He tweeted the ANC’s statement shortly after delivering it to the media. It led to an enormous outcry, with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Enoch Godongwana, chairperson of the party’s economic transformation committee, leading the charge on Magashule. Mboweni first took to Twitter and followed it up with a Facebook post, all before 23:00 on Tuesday night.

And Godogwana, clearly exasperated with the turn of events, and the effect on the market and investors’ confidence, issued a statement saying Magashule’s recollection of what transpired at the NEC was wrong:

On Wednesday SARB governor Lesetja Kganyago entered the fray, and appearing alongside Mboweni at an event at Constitution Hill, said the issue was a “non-discussion” and a “Trojan horse”. And he went even further that evening, declaring there are “barbarians at the gate” of the central bank. “Institutions have been systematically weakened and gutted – key institutions in law enforcement. Quality institutions matter. [The Constitution] created institutions and tasked them [to undertake] various democratic processes,” he said. 

But Magashule wasn’t alone on social media. He had strong support from Mzwandile Masina, the mayor of Ekhuruleni, and Tony Yengeni, a member of the NEC and convicted fraudster, who attacked Mboweni (without naming him). Yengeni was also active, although this reporter is blocked from viewing his Twitter feed. 

And then he pinned this tweet at the top his feed:

On Thursday Ramaphosa finally broke his silence, issuing a statement from the “office of the ANC president” and going as far as he could in rebuking Magashule. The statement, in Ramaphosa’s name with Zizi Kodwa as contact person (and not the party’s spokesperson, Pule Mabe), sought to reassure investors and calm markets, saying that the mandate of the SARB has not changed and that it is not feasible to buy out private shareholders in the bank.

“The officials emphasised the policy positions of the ANC on the independence and role of the SARB as set out in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa [which is] protecting ‘the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth’. It further states that this mandate must be exercised in regular consultation with government through the cabinet minister responsible for national financial matters. This policy has not changed,” Ramaphosa said.

He added that “recent public spats” – a direct reference to Magashule’s statements and the (necessary) forced reaction to it – were “not being helpful” and were undermining the confidence of the public and investors. 

Without naming and shaming Magashule, and given his propensity for stealth and keeping up a semblance of unity, this was as far as Ramaphosa could have gone. 

But, remarkably, Magashule was not done and a mere 24 minutes after Ramaphosa’s statement was issued he again issued the disavowed NEC statement from Tuesday, tweeting it from his official Twitter account and tagging both Ramaphosa and Kodwa.

It was left to stew in the murky world of Twitter for a good while – maybe an hour – sending a clear signal to Ramaphosa and his cohort, and drawing support from individuals like Carl Niehaus – before it was deleted. In its stead Magashule posted this: