Day Zero was a purposefully designed narrative in political communication to change middle-class water consumption behaviour in a highly visible metropolitan context of persistent drought. As an “affective fact”, however it didn't so much elicit panic, but elicited a sense of fun and social solidarity in many.

The unfeasibly precise prediction of water ‘running out’ the campaign obscured scientific uncertainties. In this context the contribution considers the role of ‘public’ scientists as highly visible authorities reinforcing or nuancing the Day Zero narrative. While the crisis narrative inevitably showed up rifts in South Africa's social fabric, and triggered protests against an underlying everyday crisis of water penury for marginalised urbanites.

Our perspective is informed by documentary and press analysis, as well as a Focus Group Discussion with the South African National Press Club held on October 31, 2019.

零日是一个有目的地设计的政治传播叙事，旨在在持续干旱的高度可见的大都市背景下改变中产阶级的用水行为。然而，作为一个“情感事实”，它并没有引起太多恐慌，而是在许多人中引起了一种乐趣和社会团结感。

对水“耗尽”的不切实际的精确预测掩盖了科学上的不确定性。在这种情况下，该文稿认为“公共”科学家作为高度可见的权威来加强或细微化“零日”叙事的作用。虽然危机叙事不可避免地在南非的社会结构中出现了裂痕，并引发了对边缘化城市居民日常用水短缺危机的抗议。

我们的观点来自纪录片和新闻分析，以及 2019 年 10 月 31 日与南非国家新闻俱乐部举行的焦点小组讨论。