Try harder‚ water minister tells Western Cape officials battling drought

The government has demanded a co-ordinated effort to manage the Western Cape drought.

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane told reporters this week the province may be declared a national disaster area after she sent experts to assess the situation.

Her spokesman‚ Mlimandlela Ndamase‚ told The Times his department was trying to ensure the response to the drought was co-ordinated.

• Guzzlers get the message after Cape Town's naming and shaming blamestormMost of Cape Town’s top 100 water users have been removed from a list which revealed their street names last month. 

“We are just trying to bring everybody together‚ the province‚ the City of Cape Town and other municipalities in the Western Cape. so that collectively we are able to track what interventions have been made [and] what money is necessary where‚” he said.

Experts from his department would be helped with their assessment by officials from the National Disaster Management Centre‚ and the departments of agriculture and rural development.

Mokonyane said she met Local Government and Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell this week in an attempt to find short-term and long-terms solutions for the problem.

• Pensioner in drought stricken Cape Town watches hundreds of litres of water go to wasteCape Town has been declared a disaster area because of the crippling drought. But every day a pensioner from Manenberg on the Cape Flats watches as many litres of the precious resource goes to waste. 

They agreed to establish a restrictions management committee convened by the province and including all three spheres of government to create a centre of coordination on all water restrictions and drought-related matters.

“Once that is done‚ everyone sings from the same hymn sheet‚” said Ndamase.

The department said the province’s 42 dams were 30.2% full‚ and dropping by between 1.4 and 1.6 points weekly.

• Advice to those in the grip of Cape Town droughtThink twice before saying goodbye to your dead lawn — there might be signs of life. 

Bredell welcomed Mokonyane’s willingness to assist. “We are all on the same page regarding the seriousness of the situation. There’s a number of things on the table including potentially declaring further disaster areas in the Western Cape if needs be‚” he said.

On Monday‚ the City of Cape Town declared itself a local disaster area as it battled to force residents to adhere to level 3B water restrictions.

- TMG Digital/The Times