The government has declared the drought in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape as a national disaster, putting businesses and households on notice to use water sparingly.
This will be a tough ask for Western Cape farmers, who account for more than half of the country’s agricultural exports.
The move also puts the co-ordination of the response to the disaster at the door of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet.
Elias Sithole, head of the National Disaster Management Centre, on Wednesday invoked provisions of the Disaster Management Act and classified the drought in the three provinces as a national disaster.
“After having considered reports submitted on the drought and the possible interruption of large-scale water provision by organs of state in terms of the potential impact and magnitude in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape, I hereby give notice that I regard the life safety risk and impact posed by drought and the possible interruption of large-scale water provision in these provinces as a potential disaster,” Sithole said in a government notice.
“I hereby … call upon all organs of state to further strengthen their support provided to the existing structures to implement their contingency arrangements and to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to enable the national executive to effectively deal with the effects of this national disaster.”
One of the implications of the drought being classified as a national disaster is that organs of state, the private sector, communities and individuals might be required to reduce their water use in line with any water restrictions issued.
Cape Town’s dam levels have fallen to a concerning 61% of capacity, while Western Cape dam levels now stand at 51%, prompting the city to intensify water by-law enforcement across the metro.
The storage level is lower than the same period last year, when dams were at 80.3%.
To this end, the city’s water and sanitation directorate has increased inspections throughout the summer season to regulate excessive water use as the region faces below-average rainfall and rising demand.
Appeal to reduce water consumption
Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe last month called on residents, businesses and institutions to urgently reduce water consumption as the metro continues to experience declining dam levels under prolonged drought conditions.
According to the metro’s data released on January 26, combined dam storage has declined drastically with less than 40% of usable water remaining once dead storage is taken into account.
According to the seasonal climate watch published by the South African Weather Service on Tuesday, above-normal rainfall forecast for February to April and March to May is likely to improve surface runoff in areas such as KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
However, the provinces of Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape will not be so fortunate.
“Below normal rainfall with largely expected above normal minimum and maximum temperatures in most parts of the country during the autumn months are likely to increase water loss in areas such as the Western Cape and Eastern Cape where about 634 and 258 settlements, respectively, are experiencing ongoing drought ranging between moderate, severe and extreme,” the climate watch reads.
Business Day reported in December that fixing dilapidated municipal water and sanitation infrastructure countrywide would cost an estimated R400bn.
Kabelo Khumalo
www.businessday.co.za