WATCH: Pain and gain for consumers as Day Zero nears

Cape Town - Day Zero, the day when Cape Town will switch off the city's taps, is no longer just a blip on the horizon for residents of the Mother City.

It is reality, and bringing with it all sorts of challenges, as well as opportunities. 

At the Newlands spring in Cape Town, panicked Capetonians fill up every canister they can put their hands on with free water. But these don’t come cheap. Canisters which usually cost around R60, are now retailing at well over R100 each. 

• READ: Newlands Spring water to be rerouted following physical altercation, traffic congestion

And it appears that people are also cashing in on the crisis by selling the water which they access for free from the springs. Residents close to the Newlands spring, meanwhile, are seemingly becoming fed-up by the traffic to the water point, and houses in the area are being put up for sale. 

Retailers, on the other hand, are smiling as they restock shelves for consumers who are stockpiling for Day Zero, while water runners at the springs have turned the crisis into a form of employment and income for their households.

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