Water and Sanitation Department says country’s water reserves have decreased marginally

South Africa - Cape Town - 28 June 2023 - The Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest dam in the Western Cape Water Supply System, has hit 102%. The man-made body of water has overflowed its capacity of 480 million cubic meters. Torrential rains and gale-force winds recently caused havoc across the Western Cape, with floods reported in various areas and at least three people were killed. Meanwhile, due to heavy rainfall experienced throughout the province in the past three weeks, the Western Cape storage dams have seen an increase. The Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) has seen a significant increase, edging towards 100% compared with last years 72.63% for the same period. Photographer: Armand Hough / African News Agency(ANA)

South Africa - Cape Town - 28 June 2023 - The Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest dam in the Western Cape Water Supply System, has hit 102%. The man-made body of water has overflowed its capacity of 480 million cubic meters. Torrential rains and gale-force winds recently caused havoc across the Western Cape, with floods reported in various areas and at least three people were killed. Meanwhile, due to heavy rainfall experienced throughout the province in the past three weeks, the Western Cape storage dams have seen an increase. The Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) has seen a significant increase, edging towards 100% compared with last years 72.63% for the same period. Photographer: Armand Hough / African News Agency(ANA)

Published Jun 29, 2023

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Johannesburg - The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says that although heavy downpours were experienced in some parts of the country, such as the Western Cape, the status of reservoirs illustrates that the country’s water levels have decreased marginally when compared to the same period last week.

According to the department, the overall storage capacity of the country’s water level sits at 95.0%, a slight drop from last week’s 95.2% and a tiny improvement from last year’s 93.3%.

Motor Industry Staff Association (Misa) Chief Executive for Operations, Martlé Keyter said South Africa is a water-scarce country and highlighted that last month the Department of Health confirmed that cholera-related deaths had risen to 31. There is cholera in five provinces.

"The writing is on the wall after the minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, released the Blue Drop Watch Report, which focuses on the current condition of drinking water. The reports paint a grim picture of the quality of our drinking water and identifies the collapse of the country’s wastewater treatment works," said Keyter.

He said that persistent water shortages were the result of the systemic collapse of the water supply services due to neglect, lack of maintenance, and corruption.

"The Blue Drop Watch Report shows dysfunctional local municipalities and non-compliant wastewater treatment," said Keyter.

Meanwhile, Mchunu is forging ahead with the reconfiguration of the two water entities in KwaZulu-Natal, Umgeni and Mhlathuze Water, to accelerate the provision of bulk water in the province.

According to the department, Mhlathuze Water is being disestablished effective on Friday, June 30, and will be merged with Umgeni Water, with all its staff, assets, and liabilities to be transferred to Umgeni, effective July 1 in terms of Section 46 of the Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997). This will then result in a single water entity, uMngeni-uThukela Water.

"An advert has since been published with the aim of getting public nominations for members who will be appointed to serve on the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board for a period of four years.

“The board members will be mandated to provide an oversight role as non-executive members of the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board and to support the executive management in delivering value-added services and business confidence in discharging their roles and responsibilities commensurable to a leading bulk water services utility in South Africa," said the department.

The Star