Several towns in the Eastern Cape have run out of water.

This is according to the Maverick Citizen, which reported that boreholes and dams have dried up and taps have run dry in Graaff-Reinet, Bedford, Makhanda and Adelaide.

The lack of rain has also reduced farms to dust and threatens livestock.

Maverick Citizen senior journalist Estelle Ellis says that the absence of drinking water in these towns is at an absolute crisis.

“The water that is provided for household use by the municipality is completely undrinkable, it is salty and brown.”

A water crisis in the town of Graaff-Reinet has seen the Nqweba Dam run dry, leaving behind dead fish, while residents “fight” for water.

The humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers intervened and has sent trucks of water, tankers, a drilling machine and hydrologist Dr Gideon Groenewald to the Eastern Cape town.

Minister of Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu has called on the private sector to work with government in bringing solutions to the Eastern Cape’s water crisis.

“We are going through difficult times as a country and we invite all stakeholders to work and partner with us to find lasting solutions to the current water challenges.”