“We are on top of the drought situation,” was the official word from the department of water and sanitation minister, Nomvula Mokonyane at an awareness blitz and prayer session held on Wednesday, July 15 at Hazelmere Dam.
Mokonyane, department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, public works and human settlements MEC, Ravi Pillay and various mayors visited communities affected by the drought to raise awareness of drought and water conservation.
The biggest announcement of the day was that the dam wall will finally be raised and the silt removed at the same time.
“The low water level is an opportunity for us to clean the dam,” Mokonyane said, adding that they were now planning for the future beyond the drought.
Events kicked off with handing out of t-shirts and flyers at the Ballito Lifestyle Centre and the Ballito taxi rank where taxi bosses committed to washing their taxis with grey water only.
From there the convoy proceeded to the Tongaat taxi rank and finally to the Hazelmere Dam for an inspection of the dam, sitting at 26 percent, and an inter-faith prayer meeting.
People were shocked to see how little water was left in the dam and even more so when reminded that only about 10 percent of the water was usable – the rest has previously been described as “too muddy to treat”.
Read more on government’s water strategy in next week’s Courier.
