Thundershowers predicted for drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has predicted much-needed rain for Graaff-Reinet this week.

Weather forecaster Tumla Goba told the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser 80% thundershowers are predicted for Tuesday, with a minimum of 15% rain, but a possibility of up to 30mm of rainfall.

SAWS on Tuesday issued an advisory for the possibility of localised flooding, especially over the Blue Crane Route municipality and the northern parts of Dr Beyers Naude municipality.

Goba predicted 60% chance of rain for Wednesday, and hopes the drought-stricken area will see at least 10mm of rain.

For Thursday, 30% chance of rain is predicted. However, only 1mm or less will be measured.

No rain is predicted for the weekend.

In December, Graaff-Reinet Advertiser reported that delegates from across the country attended the Sarah Bartman District Water Summit, in response to the ongoing drought in the area.

This as the threat of day zero looms for the Graaff-Reinet area.

Portia Makhanya, the provincial head of the Department of Water and Sanitation, gave a bleak outlook. She said that the long-term forecast shows no significant rain for at least a month, and pointed out that Graaff-Reinet is shown as a drought hot-spot on climate maps.

The Nqweba Dam is empty, and many of the boreholes are unable to produce water, not because of faulty pumps, but because the water table is dropping. Added to this are the problems associated with vandalism of infrastructure as well as lack of regular maintenance.

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