File picture: Ahmad Masood File picture: Ahmad Masood
Durban - Durban has been declared a disaster area as the worst drought to hit the country in almost two decades continues unabated.
Co-operative Governance (Cogta) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube said today the province was now “Code Red” because of water shortages.
The government made the declaration along with parts of Limpopo and North West.
This enables the government to release disaster relief funds to assist drought-stricken communities.
The decision was welcomed by Dube-Ncube who said the fund was a “shot in the arm” for communities where wells and taps were running dry.
“This brings hope for our communities and the provincial economy since it means that we will be fighting this crisis with national government and this will help strengthen our efforts at mitigating the impact of the drought,” she said.
The MEC said it was imperative that everyone conserve water.
“Use water sparingly because these dry times are a global phenomenon said to be going to prevail along with the climate change and global warming phenomena,” she warned.
Kokstad and Ingwe Municipality in the Harry Gwala (Ixopo) district become the latest municipalities to announce water restrictions this week.
Ixopo dam has dropped to 30% full and mandatory curtailments in the distribution of water have commenced.
“Water production in the Ixopo Dam will be reduced from 2.8Ml/d to 2.5Ml/d as of today. Harry Gwala district has been in discussions with farmers upstream who have three dams to release immediately, but even with that plan it is necessary to implement water restrictions until the situation returns to normal,” Dube-Ncube said.
“As KZN Cogta, we maintain that the current drought crisis requires all citizens of the province to play their part in conserving water because water is everybody’s business and government and sector stakeholders cannot do it alone. The department has contingency plans to ensure that no resident will go without water even when the taps begin to run dry. We need to save every drop because every drop counts.
Cogta’s teams will move between affected areas to monitor water usage. Water efficiency and water use education programmes are being rolled out while the department thanks all those who have made lifestyle changes to reduce their water consumption, even as households and businesses are encouraged to implement various measures which include the re-use of water.
DAILY NEWS