Pretoria - Despite the recent rainfalls, severe drought continues to hit the Eastern Cape, with most dams still under 40% capacity.
Eastern Cape MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Fikile Xasa, said Amathole, Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi and OR Tambo District Municipalities are the most affected areas of the province.
The affected dams include Xhilinxa and Etholeni in Butterworth, which are under 10% water capacity, while Bedford Dam is at 17%. In Queenstown, Bonkolo Dam is at 11% and water is now drawn from Waterdown Dam, which is some 60 km away.
“The Dordrecht Munnik and Anderson Dams have literally dried out and Ntabankulu and Matatiele Dams have completely dried up and have since been closed,” said Xasa.
MEC Xasa warned that the recovery of the country from drought may take some time, depending on rainfall and temperature conditions over the spring and summer seasons.
“Seasonal weather predictions for the province indicate that the drier than normal conditions experienced in the Eastern Cape will probably continue until mid-December 2016. However, this does not mean that rainfall will not occur, it simply means that the rainfall average for the period will be below what is normally expected.
“There is a moderate to good chance of the rainfall being more than what can usually be expected towards the latter half of December into January 2017,” he said.
MEC Xasa encouraged communities to play their part to conserve water by stopping water leaks in their households and neighbourhoods.
“We encourage residents to report all leakages in their areas to the ward councillors because a drop of water is a precious source of life. Traditional leaders must also play their part and stop water leaks by reporting them to authorities. Every drop of water is critical for the survival and well-being of citizens,” said MEC Xasa.
He also called on municipalities to heighten the implementation of their drought communication action plans.
The provincial government has applauded the water saving initiatives conducted by the municipal leadership, including enforcing water restrictions. – SAnews.gov.za
