Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica announced yesterday that South Africa was experiencing a severe water crisis and could be declared a semi-desert in less than 20 years‘ time.

Speaking at a two-day Water Indaba being held in Jeffreys Bay, Sonjica said water was a complex issue in the country and that the department would have to look into desalination and borehole water as possible solutions to the crisis.

“Not only are we facing this problem of water scarcity because of irregular rainfall patterns and dried-up dams, but there is also the issue of poor maintenance and inadequate infrastructure.

“Desalination is the best option to look at, but we will have to find a cheaper way to do it. We have an abundance of sea water at our disposal, so why not make use of it?” said Sonjica.

She also declared six of the seven districts in the Eastern Cape disaster areas. The six districts are Cacadu, Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani, Ukhahlamba, Amatole and OR Tambo. The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan district was not declared a disaster area.

Article Continues: epherald.co.za

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment