The Eastern Cape has been declared a disaster area because of the punishing drought it’s experiencing.
This comes after Lindiwe Sisulu, the minister for Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, recently tasked the Department of Water and Sanitation to fund and prioritise the drought crisis in the province.
Following a meeting with the Eastern Cape executive council earlier this week, Sisulu said that the department would be working closely with the province and municipalities to find solutions to the ongoing crisis.
Departmental spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said that residents of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape were desperately waiting for water that had been released from the Wriggleswade Dam
Ratau also said that boreholes had been sunk but even groundwater was becoming scarce.
Sisulu said the department would also look at the installation of a pipeline that would take water from the Tsomo River to a water treatment plant in Ngqamakhwe near Butterworth.
The number of tanks in the area have also been increased in an effort to meet demand. – Zoë van Rooyen
