The City of Cape Town will lower water restrictions from Level 5 to Level 3 from December, it announced on Thursday.

This means that every person can now use 105 litres a day, up from 70 litres a day, Mayor Dan Plato said.

Tariffs will also be lowered. If residents use less than 6 000 litres per month, they can now expect to pay 35.5% less.

Plato said the lowering would come into effect from December 1.

Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson said: "This is not a complete abandonment of water restrictions, it is simply an adjustment to another level... we want to harness and look after this recovery".