Landscaping in North West

Rustenburg and Madibeng: supply may be capped

In October 2026 Rand Water reported that Rustenburg was using 72 megalitres against an allocation of 68, and Madibeng 14 megalitres against 8, and warned it could hold over-consuming municipalities to their limits. Its spokesperson told the Mail & Guardian the likely result would be low water pressure or intermittent supply in the affected municipalities.

For a garden in Rustenburg, Brits or around Hartbeespoort, design for days when the taps run weakly or not at all:

• Put new planting in when the summer rain can do most of the establishing, not in the dry months.
• Ask the landscaper to group plants by water need, so a short supply gap only hurts one zone.
• If you add a rainwater tank, have the irrigation able to draw from it.
• Mulch beds thickly; it buys you days between waterings.

Boreholes around Mahikeng: legal, but the aquifer is falling

The national Department of Water and Sanitation confirmed in July 2026 that households don't need to register a borehole used for reasonable domestic purposes, which includes watering a small non-commercial garden. Municipal by-laws are separate, so check with your municipality too.

Whether the water lasts is a different question. A 2018 International Water Management Institute case study found that total abstraction from the Grootfontein dolomite aquifer near Mahikeng was about 18.8 million m³ a year, against recharge of no more than 10 million. Groundwater levels across the compartment have fallen about 0.4 m a year since the 1970s, and some wells have run dry. The Lichtenburg Eye spring has diminished or dried up.

If your plan depends on a borehole in this area, ask the driller for a yield test and plan the garden so it survives if the yield drops. Don't size a lawn around today's yield.

East and west are different gardens

The government's Let's Respond climate toolkit notes that the east of the province is much wetter than the west, and that more intense storms and flooding are expected as the climate changes. A planting plan that suits Hartbeespoort may need far more water in Vryburg or Mahikeng.

Heavy storms also mean drainage: make sure new beds, paths and lawn levels move run-off away from the house rather than towards it.