THE drought-stricken Chris Hani District Municipality has declared a state of disaster in the district.
This is due to the water crisis in the 36 144km² region, though verification processes still need to take place before either the provincial or national government can provide relief to residents, farmers and businesses.
The declaration comes after prolonged water shortages, attributed to a lack of rainfall, with farmers being accused of worsening the situation by diverting water from the streams that go to municipal dams to their livestock dams.
In a council meeting held on Friday last week, the district authority, which is responsible for water and sanitation services across its six local municipalities, announced that it needed an amount of R178,6 million for a borehole drilling project in Inxuba Yethemba, Engcobo, Emalahleni, Enoch Mgijima, Sakhisizwe and Intsika Yethu.
CHDM Mayor, Wongama Gela, said the municipality had benefited from the previous declaration through the Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Grant (WSIG).
“An allocation of R87.3 million was made available for the district to mitigate the situation. Drilling and retrofitting was prioritised for the district,” Gela said.
“Certain boreholes that were drilled happened to be unsuccessful and resulted in delays with the implementation of the projects.
“Other projects were delayed by supply chain processes that were to be followed. In some instances it was an issue with community inte-rests that had to be considered but nonetheless, most projects have started with implementation,” the mayor said.
Gela said the recent declaration was made in order to source funding from provincial and national government.
“The submission will further be subjected to the verification process that will confirm the state of affairs of the affected areas. It is possible that certain areas will be serviced by water-carting, as there are no possible local sources due to the dryness of the area,” Gela said.
He said the drought also posed a threat on the region’s economy, as some businesses had to close their doors during severe water shortages.
“The effect of drought on businesses, farmers and residents is immeasurable. The area of Komani has factories that produce dairy products (Crickley Dairy) and fizzy drinks (Twizza) which are threatened with closure and this would result in job losses,” Gela said.
The Gift of the Givers humanitarian forum is also planning to assist the district by drilling for additional boreholes after finishing other projects in other drought-stricken areas like Makhanda, Adelaide and Bedford.
