• The Department of Environmental Affairs is expected to give an overview of weather patterns, as predicted by the weather service, and the implications.
• Water and Sanitation Minster Nomvula Mokonyane will provide a breakdown of the state of water supplies in the country and possible interventions to ensure efficient management of what there is.
• Agriculture will announce assistance to be given to farmers.
• Rural Development will present options for providing state-owned land for livestock grazing in order to avoid slaughtering.
• Health will explain the impact of the crisis on healthcare and interventions needed to ensure facilities continued to function properly.

Expert on water, Anthony Turton had this to say:

What we are finding is that official government data is poor quality and better data is obtained from commercial farmers. This is a serious problem. If you can’t measure something you can’t manage it.

Though hard infrastructure such as dams, pipelines and reservoirs needed attention, data infrastructure was vital in managing water supply and pumping money into hard infrastructure was a direct result of mismanaged municipal systems.

We are entering a deep, protracted drought period. We can never predict how long a drought will last. Statistically we are in for deep drought that can last more than a year and up to 10 years. We could have drought-equipped ourselves better.

Already, parts of the country have been declared disaster zones, clearly not just a mere problem that is manageable. Even parts of Johannesburg have been left without water this week after soaring temperatures dried up reservoirs.

Yet Gordhan had this to say on that (you won’t believe your eyes):

Restrictions and disruptions in the city were not related to the drought.

And all the government officials seem to be in on it. City of Joburg mayor Parks Tau had this to say:

The water system in the city was not in a crisis and disruptions were attributed to increased demand and pressure on supply.

High-lying areas continue to be affected because, while we do maintain general reserves in the city, with current supply constraints we cannot reach the levels that pump water up into the system.

I definitely think it’s time that Cape Town broke away and became a Republic. Kidding.

[source: timeslive]