THE Western Cape water crisis has escalated to disaster status, while the Eastern Cape is also facing severe water shortages.
Spokesman of the department of water and sanitation,Sputnik Ratau, indicated in a statement this week that parts of the Eastern Cape were faced with an acute water shortage with dam levels at an average 58.9%.
The drought was affecting some parts of the province such as Nelson Mandela Bay, the Chris Hani District and Amathole District.
“The current abnormal heat wave has increased evaporation rates, and this is one of the reasons for the fall off in the storage capacity levels.”
Ratau indicated that some dams including Xilinxa in Amathole District and Kouga in Nelson Mandela District were at 5, 2% and 7.4% respectively while the Oxkraal dam in the Sarah Baartman District was at 26.6% and Mlanga Dam in the OR Tambo District at 6.5%.
“The department is currently facing serious challenges which include a lack of rainfall, ageing and poor maintenance of infrastructure in some areas, water leaks, water pollution and illegal water connections.”
“Drought is a consequence of the El Nino, a phenomenon that brings about dry conditions in parts of the country.The department appeals to communities to adhere to the municipal restrictions in order to save water,” concluded Ratau.
