Kannaland consumers urged to use less water
Area in a dire crisis as municipality places seven tankers in Zoar
THE provincial government said that water consumption in Zoar in the Kannaland region, which is experiencing a water shortage, is unacceptably high.
“The Zoar region currently uses 170 litres of water per person per day. The community has been urged to reduce consumption to 50 litres per person per day.”
MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell said: “There are several experts on a full-time basis in the area to address concerns.”
Bredell led a delegation to visit the area after it emerged that Kannaland was in a dire water crisis.
“The Department of Local Government through the provincial disaster management centre continues to co-ordinate all relief efforts across the province. We must again repeat that there is a serious water challenge in the Karoo, but to date no community has run out of water and many areas are still getting water from groundwater sources. The province has multiple contingencies in place that have not yet failed.”
Bredell said they are still in consultations with the municipality regarding alleviation. As an interim measure, the District Municipality has already placed seven water tankers in Zoar to provide water, tankers where the community can collect water until the reservoirs have been replenished from the groundwater, he said.
Bredell said the situation in the Karoo remains serious. “The province has several ongoing projects across the region and has stepped in at the Kannaland Municipality in the past 10 days to assist in the rehabilitation of the Calitzdorp Water Treatment plant.
“The plant was not adequately maintained and the water quality was poor. Accordingly, the provincial government and officials from neighbouring municipalities, including Oudtshoorn, stepped in to rehabilitate the plant.” Meanwhile, mayoral spokesperson Ian Avontuur said the dam levels in Calitzdorp is currently standing at 11%. He said that the two main dams in Zoar are at 10% and 20% – only enough for approximately three weeks.
“We are calling for greater co-operation between the various spheres of government, that is the main thing… that we have a commitment from the role-players to work together and find a long-term solution.”
Last Friday, MEC of Economic Opportunities Beverley Schäfer visited three farms in Laingsburg to meet with farmers who are currently in the fourth year of a crippling drought.
The Department of Agriculture has been providing support to small scale and commercial farmers in the form of vouchers for fodder, which is food in the form of dried hay or straw. Following a veld assessment report conducted in October, the decision was taken to increase support from every second month, to monthly in the extremely critical areas, which includes the entire Central Karoo region.
In November and December, the department issued aid to the value of nearly R8 million a month to 563 and 569 Central Karoo farmers respectively.
“The drought has been ongoing in the region for four years, and despite being a summer rainfall area, there has been very little rain. These farms form an important part of the regional economy and are important for job creation. These farmers are committed to saving the jobs of their staff, and are struggling to make ends meet.
“They all had ideas of how best the department could assist, and we are now going to be exploring the feasibility of these ideas, within the constraints of the budget and government spending regulations.”
The two main dams in Zoar are at 10% and 20% – only enough for three weeks Ian Avontuur Mayoral spokesperson