Mac , you are out of touch with reality. Are you aware that anything of value beneath the land you own does not belong to you but is owned by the state ? - gold  ,oil , gas , diamonds and even building sand , stone or clay . Similarly , the water that falls on your land belongs to the state which is why there are all sorts of regulations restricting farmers as to what dams they may build and how they may use river water running through their property.
If you can't understand that economics plays a big factor ( as well as politics) in the actions of Cape Towns  reaction to the water problem ,then I can't help you understand the finer points.