Amathole district’s drought declaration is a plea for help

Amathole district municipality in the Eastern Cape declared a drought in the area this week despite allocating millions to upgrade water treatment works, as stated by acting executive mayor Zibuthe Mnqwazi earlier this month.

Municipality spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso stated that the municipality’s drought declaration was a way of drawing attention to the matter.

Madikizela-Vuso said: “We have had a number of presentations to raise awareness of our water crisis, in the hope that we would receive some assistance.”

Resident Yivanathi Tyutyani said she was not shocked at the declaration made by the municipality as the drought had been going on in the district for a long time.

Tyutyani explained that most people in the district had to travel to other areas to look for water.

“Sometimes transportation can be a barrier.

“Normally we have water for two days and then we don’t have water after three days,’’ Tyutyani said.

According to Madikizela-Vuso, the dry weather conditions put the district at a disadvantage as the area was known for rich agricultural yields during the harvesting periods.

The district was resorting to alternatives, such as boreholes, to try and meet water supply demand in the area.

The district last received significant rainfall in April which improved some of the dam levels, particularly in the Great Kei where some dams were reported by South African Weather Services to be 100% full.

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