Beaufort West town in South Africa is the latest to succumb to the prevalent water crisis in the country.
South Africa reportedly has a water deficit of 38bn cubic metres per year. Worse still, its underground water reservoirs are also in danger of evaporating. According to reports, vandalism is not helping the situation either.
In other towns like Dopeni in Limpopo, residents reportedly have to buy water from those who have boreholes. Some like Mpumalanga, have survived a water shortage for four years now. Residents in Randfontein on Johannesburg’s West Rand also complain about lack of water week after week.
Last week, the Ugu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, which includes Port Edward and Port Shepstone, was reportedly struggling to ensure normal water supply. The municipality is currently struggling to fix ageing water infrastructure. However, a strike by municipal employees from the water services has worsened the situation.
Also read: Water shortage in Cape Town reaches crisis level
Measures to curb water shortage
The City of Cape Town is facing a major water shortage crisis, with fears that there could be no water in the City by March next year. At the end of October this year, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba approved a request by the City of Cape Town to forego some regulatory requirements in making budgetary changes to speed up measures to mitigate the drought. Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has promised that the City will not run dry.
