Durban - The drought in KwaZulu-Natal is tightening its grip with perennial streams and rivers running dry and the authorities warning that towns and cities could soon feel the impact of a disaster that already has farmers on their knees.
The iLembe District Municipality, on the North Coast, has had to take drastic measures to augment water supplies in the face of dwindling outputs at the Umvoti waterworks, which once produced 80 million litres of water a day.
As of last Wednesday (14 October), it was producing only 11 million a day, district mayor, Welcome Sibusiso Mdabe, told a news conference in KwaDukuza (Stanger) on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the mayor and other stakeholders visited the treatment plant and executive council member, Moosa Motala, who was at his side, said the situation was so dire that, had urgent action not been taken, the area would have been without water on Tuesday.
“There is no water in the Umvoti River,” the mayor said.
In addition, Hazelmere Dam was at a worrying 27.57% capacity in July and, as of Monday morning, this was more or less unchanged.
Parts of the eThekwini and iLembe district municipalities had their water consumption restricted by 50% in June and Mdabe said on Monday that, as this continued, the same restriction would be imposed on more areas in the KwaDukuza and Maphumulo municipalities.
R80 million had also been set aside to drill more boreholes, continue water tankering programmes, repair ageing infrastructure and recommission a small, underused water supply scheme in the area.
This amount would be reviewed in coming weeks and more funds were expected to be sought.
Sugar cane farmer Sphiwe Zulu, who is based locally, in Glendale, said the situation was dire.
In 2009, farmers had enjoyed yields of 80 tons of cane per hectare but this year, this had dropped to 30 tons, he said. This was resulting in job losses.
Zulu said he had lived in the area all his life and recalled similar conditions in the early 1980s.
“But at least there was some water then. Now there is none.”
The effects of the drought in KZN have been widespread and the largely rural, farming areas in the north the hardest hit.
Chairman of the Ladysmith and District Farmers’ Association, Ian King, said on Monday that the Little Tugela River, which ran through Winterton, had dried up completely and water levels at Spioenkop Dam were at 64%.
“I’ve lived here for 30 years and the levels have never dropped below 70% in that time,” he said.
King said all farmers were affected.
He said the start of the province’s rainy season this month could signify some “light at the end of the tunnel”, but that between 25 and 50mm of rainfall was needed to “kick-start” it.
Water problems in the province first started in June last year, and in February, Business Report reported Empangeni sugar cane farmers were suffering a 40% year-on-year crop reduction and that the effects of December’s dry spell were still being felt, despite rainfall at the beginning of the year.
Then in June, MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Nomusa Dube-Ncube, called the water situation at Hazelmere Dam “critical” and said its supplies at the time could only provide dependent communities with water for another two months.
In August, media reports claimed two other dams in the north of the province had dried up completely and earlier this month, that those affected by the drought had become so desperate, they had hijacked water tankers deployed to the area.
Cogta spokesman, Msawakhe Mayisela, said last night that the drought looked like it was here to stay.
He described the situation as “devastating” and said resulting damages had already cost upward of R500 million.
“It’s really out of our hands, as government,” he said, “but we are continuing with our aggressive communications campaigns, trying to get people to understand that saving water is everyone’s responsibility.”
Mayisela said those living in metropolitan areas who still had running water might not fully understand the severity of the situation at the moment.
But if things did not change, they too could start to feel effects similar to those in the far-flung, more rural areas.
Daily News
* E-mail your opinion to [email protected] and we will consider it for publication or use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.