‘Work on track’ to declare national drought disaster
WHILE farmers in the Northern Cape continue to suffer under a crippling drought, national government has announced plans to declare the drought a national disaster next month.
This has come at the same time as a call by the Department of Water and Sanitation for South Africans to “pray for rain”, saying that faith-based organisations played a “critical role in mitigating water challenges that the country continues to face”.
The Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des Van Rooyen, said yesterday, while briefing a meeting of Parliament’s water and sanitation committee, that “work was on track” to enable him to declare the drought a national disaster by next month.
Three provinces, the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, have already been declared provincial disasters, as dams continue to dry up.
Van Rooyen heads the inter-ministerial task team set up to deal with the crisis.
“Consultations are in the final stages to prepare information for the inter-ministerial task team to consider mandating myself to declare a national state of disaster. We’re hoping this will be finalised by March,” Van Rooyen said.
Representatives from the Western and Eastern Cape governments, AgriSA and the national departments of Water and Sanitation, Health and Environmental Affairs also attended yesterday meeting.
Agri Northern Cape chairperson, Henning Myburgh, said yesterday that the organisation had received no further feedback regarding an extension of the drought disaster status in the Province, which expired last week.
Myburgh said that the drought situation had now reached a “critical” stage, with many desperate farmers putting their farms on the market or simply shutting down their farms, as they “just can’t survive without water anymore”.
He added that the the economies of areas most affected by the drought were placed under “severe pressure” as a result.
Myburgh indicated that dam levels in the Province were “a cause for concern”, citing levels of 53.7 percent at Spitskop Dam, 57.6 percent at Vanderkloof Dam and 52.4 percent at Gariep Dam.
Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Sanitation yesterday encouraged residents to “pray for rain”.
“Most parts of the country continue to face serious water challenges due to the existence of climate change, which has led to the unrelenting drought phenomenon. Faith-based organisations play an important role in our communities and the department believes that these can play a critical role in mitigating water challenges that we continue to face,” Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane, said.
She added that the lack of rain had caused the average dam levels nationally to drop to as low as 59.6 percent.
“(The drought) is becoming a serious concern and we need a co-ordinated effort that will ensure we secure much-needed rains to complement our interventions. The dwindling water levels have further been exacerbated by excessive water use and leakages. We call upon all South Africans to heed this call and pray for the rain, while also adhering to water restrictions in an effort to save the current water that we have.” Mokonyane said.