Infrastructure & Utilities News South Africa

Drought declared a national disaster

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Zweli Mkhize has declared the drought and water crisis affecting parts of the country as a national state of disaster.
Drought declared a national disaster
© pat138241 – 123RF.com

He was speaking at a briefing by the interministerial task team on drought and water scarcity on Tuesday, 13 March. Mkhize said that South Africa "should continue to save water as water is one of the indispensable commodities".

There were no comforting signs of improvement in three of the worst affected provinces, Western Cape, parts of Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape.

Mkhize said that dam levels in the Western Cape were the lowest in the country at 25,5%. Gauteng has the highest dam levels at 92,8%, followed by Mpumalanga at 77,9% and Northern Cape at 67,9%.

Despite these higher dam levels, these provinces, he cautioned, were not out of the woods in terms of water scarcity.

The reclassification of the drought as a national state of disaster will allow government to tackle the problem in a coordinated way with access to funding reserved for national disasters.

Source: The Times

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za
Let's do Biz