To assist municipalities in dealing with the current drought, the Department of Water and Sanitation, Mpumalanga Provincial Office is currently drilling, equipping and refurbishing boreholes as part of its interventions.

Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality is the major beneficiary as it has been allocated R10 million through the Water Services Operating Subsidy. In terms of food security, the Department is also assisting emerging farmers by installing rainwater harvesting tanks.

So far, 92 water tanks have been installed at a cost of R945 071. Low rainfall over the current rainy season has resulted in a drastic drop in the storage capacity of dams in the Mpumalanga Province.

Storage capacity has dropped from 92.8 million cubic metres last January to 61.7 million cubic metres at the same time this year, which has been attributed to the current drought. Despite the intermittent thundershowers, water levels continue to decline.

Water restrictions

All the municipalities in the province have been affected by the drought. According to the department nine municipalities are extremely affected, five severely affected and four mildly affected. Due to the situation, the drought disaster was declared in the Mpumalanga Province in November 2015.

Water restrictions have been imposed in the Inkomati Catchment and many municipalities are implementing water restrictions to compel residents to use water sparingly.

The Department is urging the public to use the little available water sparingly and wisely.