Situation critical as Western Cape remains driest province in country – Water Department
The Department of Water and Sanitation was working with the provincial government in the Western Cape to “avert a total disaster”, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said two of the Western Cape’s rivers, Prinsrivier and Gamka, had completely dried up, while dam levels in the province have dropped to an average of 31%.
Minister for the department of water and sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, was now calling on residents to save water “as a way of life”.
In January, the City of Cape Town introduced level 3B water restrictions as dam levels continued to drop. The province remains the driest in the country with the drought continuing.
But there was good news for Gauteng residents as water restrictions are to be lifted in that province.
“This will follow due process which dictates the need to gazette the decision. This will be followed by the respective municipalities rescinding these restrictions. The review of the water restrictions in general will still happen in May as per the normal review of the hydrological cycle.”
Mokonyane opened two sluice gates on Sunday after the Vaal dam filled to capacity after heavy rains in Free State, Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape and parts of the Eastern Cape.
The statement added that residents living downstream from the Bloemhof and Vaal dams who were warned of potential flooding last week, should remain cautious and move out of the flood line and above the banks of the Orange and Vaal rivers.
This is “still valid especially around the town of Douglas, Northern Cape, where the confluence of the two rivers is”.
The statement said recent heavy rains in five provinces had filled to capacity 57 of South Africa’s dams.
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