If Western Cape Premier Helen Zille looks olierig to you, don’t scoff, it’s only because she hasn’t washed recently.
Zille revealed she only showers “briefly” every third day and she regards “oily hair in a drought to be as much of a status symbol as a dusty car”.
The Western Cape is suffering its worst drought in over 100 years and the City of Cape Town has implemented Level 5 water restrictions.
Meanwhile, Mayor Patricia de Lille closed her pool early last year.
CLOSED HER POOL: De Lille
“She only showers for two minutes and uses the water she catches from her showers in buckets to flush the toilet and water the garden, no fresh water is used to water the garden,” said her spokesperson Zara Nicholson.
“She only uses waterless car products, and only does laundry and dishes when necessary.
In an opinion piece published on PoliticsWeb, Zille defended her water usage.
This comes after Western Cape public works MEC Donald Grant responded to questions in the provincial legislature, where he revealed that R90 000 had been spent on a water purification system for Zille’s official residence at Leeuwenhof.
He also provided water consumption figures for Leeuwenhof for July and August and said he thought four people lived on the property.
According to some publications’ calculations, the premier’s household was not meeting the 87-litre-a-day target.
But Zille claimed that some 30 people were on the property during the day, making it “impossible” to estimate restricted water usage.
“As for my husband and I we try to use so little water that I sometimes get worried about the hygienic and aesthetic consequences,” Zille wrote.
“I shower briefly once every three days and for the rest wash in the hand basin. I used to wash my hair every day but now only when I shower with visibly negative consequences. However I regard oily hair in a drought to be as much of a status symbol as a dusty car.
“We wash dishes by hand even after formal functions because the dishwasher uses too much water” Zille added.