“Water is Life.”

As Cape Town continues to brace itself for a possible day zero; a number of questions have been raised with us about how this water crisis affects the rights of tenants and landlords.

Both landlords and tenants have contractual obligations to one another as part of their lease agreements; but what happens in this drought situation if circumstances make it impossible for one or either of them to comply due to circumstances beyond their control.

A drought would fall under the common law definition of “An act of God” and most lease agreements make provision for such an event.