Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala have called on residents in the province to improve their water conservation measures amid marginal dam level increases in the province.
On a Ministerial visit to assess the state of water and sanitation-related services in KwaZulu-Natal, last week, Mchunu reminded residents that South Africa was a water scarce country.
“The fact is that we are a water scarce country and we have to start behaving like people who are aware of this fact because if we do not heed the call to save water, we will be in serious trouble as we are seeing how drought is affecting water supply in some communities,” he said.
Mchunu’s remarks came as the province’s dam levels minimally increased to 66.7%, from 66.5% the week before.
Zikalala, meanwhile, said the provincial government was working closely with local government to ensure the effective implementation of the recently launched Provincial Water Master Plan, which is meant to ensure universal access to water in the province.
“South Africa, in particular KwaZulu-Natal, is facing water service challenges caused by constrained water sources, insufficient water infrastructure maintenance and recurrent droughts driven by climatic variation just to name a few.
“It is therefore of significance that we have to accelerate the provision of water and sanitation services to communities in lack of such services,” he said.