A drought recovery plan, totalling R350 million, was announced earlier this week, to assist KwaZulu-Natal municipalities mitigate the effects of the severe drought in the province.

The eThekwini Municipality is one of the municipalities affected by the shortage of water after the water level at the Hazelmere Dam became critically low.

The water level is reducing by 1% every 6 to 7 days due to consumption and evaporation caused by high temperature and poor rainfall.

At the meeting to discuss the drought relief roll-out plan with the Province’s district mayors, MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube said that interventions will be implemented in phases.

Short-term interventions include the implementation of water restrictions, installation of water tanks, procurement of generators and refurbishment of boreholes.

“The use of hose pipes for washing cars, gardening and filling up of swimming pools has been banned until the water crisis is overcome. We all need to make lifestyle changes and play our part to reduce water consumption by adhering to the water restriction programme.”

Mayor James Nxumalo appealed to all residents to reduce demand from the Hazelmere dam by approximately 2.4 megalitres per day.

“The drought that we are facing is a serious concern to all of us. We are monitoring water level at Hazelmere, together with Ilembe District Municipality and Umgeni Water.

In the past three days the dam level has increased slightly from 34 percent to 37 percent due to recent rainfall. We are hoping for more rainfall.

We have applied restrictions, especially in northern areas, and we appeal to residents to save water,” he said.

EThekwini Water and Sanitation Head Ednick Msweli said several interventions had already been implemented, including water amnesty, war on leaks, employment of additional plumbers and ongoing educational programmes.