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S. Africa's dams at lowest levels in years: minister

Xinhua, September 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Dams across South Africa are at their lowest levels in years due to a severe and persisting drought, the government said in its latest update on drought conditions in the country.

"Although some areas are receiving rains and flooding experienced in some provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, the drought conditions have not improved, the dams across the country are at their lowest levels in years," Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen said Thursday at press briefing in Cape Town.

The country and the Southern African region have experienced drought in its four forms: meteorological, hydrological, socio-economic and agricultural, he said.

"When we briefed the country last year the national dam levels were estimated at 64.3 percent of our normal full supply. Since then we have seen a drop in our storage quantity to the current 53 percent as at Sept. 5, 2016," the minister said.

This decline has necessitated the imposition of water restrictions in a number of provinces, and most recently, the Gauteng Province.

Although spring is coming, scientists say there is no guarantee of sufficient rain during the coming season, according to Van Rooyen.

As part of the on-going drought mitigation measures, the Department of Water and Sanitation has deployed more than six million litre motorized water tankers and to date, some eight million litres of water has been delivered to nearly 49,200 people in the provinces of North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Free state and the Eastern Cape, Van Rooyen said.

In addition, the department is also increasing the water mix, especially ground water utilization and more than 7,487 boreholes are now operational across the country.

Due to massive declines in natural grazing and crop residue, massive livestock losses have been recorded throughout the country, with statistics showing a 15 percent decline in number of cows between 2013 and 2016.

In terms of crop production, the average decline in national planting area for maize was 30 percent, with Free State and North West provinces experiencing drops of 32 percent and 43 percent respectively.

"We call on all South Africans to make a concerted effort to save water and use it wisely, as well as take care of the public infrastructure within communities," the minister said. Endit