Chris Hani area hit hard by drought

THE Chris Hani District Municipality area is one of the hardest hit by the drought, which is the result of extreme conditions associated with the strong 2015-16 El Nino weather phenomenon.

In a statement by cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa this week, he said the recovery of the country as a whole might take some time, depending on rainfall and temperature conditions over the spring and summer seasons.

“The province’s seasonal weather predictions indicated drier than normal conditions.

However, this does not mean rainfall will not occur,” Xasa said. “It simply means the rainfall average for the period will be below what is normally expected. There is, however, a moderate to good chance of the rainfall being more than what can usually be expected towards the latter half of December though into January next year.”

The Bonkolo Dam was at 11% and water was being drawn from the Waterdown Dam about 60km away from Komani.

The Munnik and Anderson dams in Dordrecht were “literally dried up”.

The provincial government encouraged communities to play their role to conserve water. “We encourage residents to report all leakages in their areas to the ward councillors because a drop of water is a precious source of life.

“Traditional leaders must also play their part and stop water leaks by reporting them to authorities,” he said.

Xasa said the provincial government applauded the water saving initiatives executed by the municipal leadership, including enforcing water restrictions, as the right thing to do under the circumstances.

He called on municipalities to heighten the implementation of their drought communication action plans.