The Cape Town water crisis may have been something that never even crossed your mind when looking at property for sale in Standerton, but taking note of how it affected the major South African city can be helpful in preparation for any similar disasters in the future.
The Mother City almost earned an unwanted spot in the history books, as it was agonisingly close to become the first major city in the world to run dry. Government was sending out bits of information as water levels were plummeting as the now infamous Day Zero approached.
This all had an impact on the property market too, with Harold Kolnik, Jawits Properties South Peninsula principal, confirming that towards the end of 2017, the majority of their offices were sitting without stock and that continued into early 2018.
Tourism also took a hit, with holiday rental occupancy suffering across the board, while the likes of guesthouses and hotels had to do away with the likes of luxury bathing by informing guests that they would not be able to make use of those facilities during their stay. And turning the situation around is not instant.
In July this year, it was revealed that the dam levels in Cape Town have soared to 56% after some good winter rain, which means that there is enough water currently to service the city for around two years. Cape Town has also worked on creating a number of other water supplies to ensure that a repeat of this disaster is not as easy.
It was not all doom and gloom though, with residents embracing the need to save water and instilling some good habits that could prove useful for future generations. Many people learnt how to recycle grey water as well as installed water collection tanks in their own yards to help ease pressure on the use of fresh water.
And despite the above mentioned impact on tourism and property, the crisis did not seem to have a big of an impact on foreign investment in property. In fact, the continued growth of foreign property purchases continued as it has been doing for the last five years.
