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The drought causing water shortages in at least five provinces will not end soon.
SA Weather Service seasonal forecasting specialist Cobus Olivier says the effects of El Niño, a weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that is expected to affect us this summer, could make things worse.
El Niño occurs when water in the eastern equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and generally causes below-average rainfall in southern Africa.
“It is still a bit early to talk about the exact expectations of rainfall and temperature, although an El Niño is highly likely to be in effect this coming summer,” Olivier said.
The drought has hit KwaZulu-Natal hardest, prompting municipalities in 10 districts to impose strict water restrictions as dam water levels drop and rivers dry up. National government has allocated R376 million towards paying for relief measures such as JoJo tanks.
The Free State government has asked Treasury for R312 million in drought relief, as 11 municipalities are experiencing water shortages. The department of water affairs and sanitation has so far spent R20 million on drought relief in the Masilonyana, Mantsopa, Naledi, Mohokare, Ngwathe, Tokologo and Nketoana local municipalities.
The North West’s cooperative governance department has spent R4 million on drought relief – which mostly consists of transporting water to affected areas in water tankers and putting up tanks in municipalities including Ratlou, Mamusa, Ramotshere Moiloa, Kagisano-Molopo, Moretele and Ventersdorp. Most dams in North West have less water than last year. The worst is Molatedi Dam, which has a capacity of 11%.
Department of water affairs and sanitation spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said the department was helping municipalities in affected provinces with water-management education, which included teaching officials about how to conserve water, apply water restrictions, harvest rainwater and fix leaks to ensure that no water is wasted.
“The water restrictions won’t be uniform and will vary from one municipality to the next. We expect this situation to go on until September,” Ratau said.
Residents in affected municipalities are being encouraged to use water sparingly by showering instead of bathing, avoiding using hosepipes to wash cars, and water their gardens by reusing water already used for washing.
However, Olivier warned that South Africans should distinguish between dry spells and a proper drought. “Drought usually spans multiple seasons of drier-than-normal rainfall. Also, as we are in winter currently, only the southwestern areas of the country usually receive significant rainfall and, as such, the dry conditions in the northwestern half cannot be considered as being in a drought condition,” he said.
“With regard to the southwestern half of the country, there has been some delay in the season, although recently [in June] there have been some improved rainfall conditions. The cause for the late start is most probably due to the far Southern Ocean atmospheric conditions that govern the north-south position of mid-latitude cyclones [cold fronts], which tend to keep these systems from reaching the continent,” Olivier said.
