Power of praying for rain

WHILE the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government are still trying to figure out how to deal effectively with the drought in our city and province effectively, dam levels continue to drop at an alarming rate.

In spite of all the input from highly-qualified water and environmental officials and scientists in our region, finding cost-effective solutions to relay water from the sea along the coastline onto land, and to remove the salt from the seawater to make it drinkable, still continues to evade us.

Our water experts would do well to learn from other countries, such as Israel for example. It is also a water-scarce country, which receives much less rain than South Africa. Israel has, however, developed systems and technologies which enables them to not only conserve and recycle lots of water, but also desalinate any sea water at reasonable cost.

In 2016, Limpopo farmers started engaging the Israeli government to share their water expertise, which could still enable successful agriculture in spite of drought. On the other hand, provincial governments in the northern parts of South Africa have urged their citizens to pray for rain, for much of last year.

Some of their dam levels have risen from only 15% to more than 100% full in some areas, since the rain started falling towards the end of November 2016.

Could these extraordinary good rains be attributed to some natural weather phenomenon, scientific intervention, or mere coincidence; or was it perhaps an answer to prayer?

Will the provincial government be so wise as to organise official days of prayer for rain; or will they simply refuse to humble themselves, and fail to openly acknowledge their dependence on God for the supply of water to our region?

Must our taps first run completely dry, before the eyes of our leaders will open to the decisive actions required?