Cape Town's water crisis highlights city's rich-poor divide

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – "Day Zero" is approaching as South Africa's showcase city of Cape Town prepares to turn off most water taps amid the worst drought in a century. Tensions among the four million residents are highlighting a class divide.

The top international tourist destination has both sprawling informal settlements and high-income oceanside neighborhoods. Some say poorer residents are unfairly blamed as concerns rise over wasting precious water.

The Associated Press is exploring how residents are coping, and it spoke with researchers about where the water usage problems lie.

Kirsty Carden with the Future Water Institute at the University of Cape Town points to the city's leafy suburbs. "They are much more profligate in the way that they use water, because they're used to the water just being, coming out of the taps."