[MAP] Drought to be declared national disaster
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Des van Rooyen says water levels in South Africa's dams continue to decrease weekly.
View the provincial dam water levels below:
Van Rooyen, representing the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water, made the announcement at a portfolio committee meeting in parliament Wednesday.
"Even though the month of January 2018, received a reasonable amount of rain, this did not cover the whole country. As it was limited to central and eastern parts of the country," says Van Rooyen.
Listen below:
Van Rooyen adds the current national dam levels depict an unfavourable picture.
Furthermore, Van Rooyen says efforts are underway to classify the current drought as a national disaster within a month.
"This among other things will legally assign the responsibility to the National Executive to coordinate the disaster, while a declaration is being considered to be finalised within a period of a month," says Van Rooyen.
Listen below: