Eastern Cape finally declared a drought disaster area

[Nirv]

Even more rain the last few days, the vegetation is actually responding a bit. Our water is still usually off from Fridays until sometime on most Mondays...

 

[schumi]

Butterworth residents shut down town over water woes, Eskom suspends operations

Butterworth residents shut down parts of the Eastern Cape town on Tuesday to highlight their frustration over erratic water supplies during the prolonged drought.

Eskom announced it had to suspend operations after employees received death threats, and the province's health department said people could not get treatment at clinics and had to be sent to hospitals where staff battled to get to work.

"The situation has affected a number of clinics in the area as people were being threatened and unable to get to work due to road blockades," said department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo.

"Butterworth Hospital continues to work under difficult circumstances because residents, who were unable to receive service at clinic level, ended up at the hospital which is already operating with a skeleton staff."


Eskom tweeted it had suspended operations in Butterworth and surrounds with immediate effect after employees received threats and were insulted for working while the town was on a "shut down".

An update from the police was not immediately available, but GroundUp has reported that protests over water have flared since last year.

More at:

Butterworth residents shut down town over water woes, Eskom suspends operations

Butterworth residents have shut down parts of the Eastern Cape town to highlight their frustration over erratic water supplies during the prolonged drought.

www.news24.com

 

[Binary_Bark]

Vandals make drought worse in Graaff-Reine

Despite welcome rains recently, the Eastern Cape remains in the grip of a terrible drought. Residents in Graaff-Reinet, home to 40,000 people, told GroundUp their taps ran dry in 2019. Some residents get water for a limited period per day.

“The Dr Beyers Naude Municipality is still declared a water drought area. Graaff-Reinet received 28mm from the recent rains, but that didn’t contribute much,” said acting spokesperson Edwardine Abader.

On Friday, the Nqweba dam level was at less than 8% capacity. It is the main source of water for the town.


“Water demand exceeds supply. The current supply is 2.9 megalitres per day, yet we need a minimum supply of eight megalitres per day,” she said. That is a massive shortfall.

The municipality received R30-million from Treasury for drought relief. This covers borehole drilling, and equipping and installation of pipelines. Currently 28 boreholes are operating. Water tankers are servicing the worst affected areas.

Resident Sporo Matiasi said, “It is a daily struggle to get enough water to use in our homes. We have to move from section to section of our townships with empty buckets looking for water. At times the municipality provides water tankers but the water is not enough and there are always long queues.”

Vandals make drought worse in Graaff-Reinet

Taps ran dry in 2019 for thousands of residents in drought-stricken town.…

www.dailymaverick.co.za

 

[schumi]

War room set up as Sisulu tasks Amatola Water Board to save Eastern Cape from drought

Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has commissioned the Amatola Water Board to lead the drought intervention plan in the Eastern Cape, the board said on Monday.

In a statement, it added it was assigned to solve water shortage and infrastructure challenges in various municipalities to ensure adequate supply.

The board said a drought intervention war room was created to ensure proper communication between the national water and sanitation department, Office of Premier in the Eastern Cape, departments of cooperative governance and traditional affairs and rural development and agrarian reform, all district municipalities as well as the Dr Beyers Naude, Makana, Ndlambe and Sundays River Valley local municipalities.

More at : https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/...stern-cape-drought-intervention-plan-20200224

 

[schumi]

Rain falls — but not enough to end water rationing in Makhanda

Despite the rain in January, Makhanda remains in the grip of a water crisis. Schools, businesses and local residents continue to struggle to cope with water cuts implemented by the Makana municipality.

The municipality recently started a new rotational plan to ration water for the town of more than 70,000 people. Water is cut every third day.

However, some areas report water outages at irregular times, which go on for days on end.

More at : https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...ot-enough-to-end-water-rationing-in-makhanda/

 

[Pitbull]

I see they have now declared it a national disaster meaning all of SA. This is exceptional news for the farmers. I unfortunately think it's way too late for the bulk of them. Good news none the less.