Drought
Ongoing Karoo drought leaves farm workers hopeless
The stressful situation has led to two farmers taking their own lives in 2017 and 2018.
A bumper harvest is expected due to last year's good rainfall.
The metro has seen one of the worst droughts since 2015 and last year the taps were close to running dry.
In September 2020, the municipality reported that it had experienced day zero, when taps were running dry and dam levels dipped below 19%.
Globally, one in 12 people could face severe water shortages every year by 2100, compared to an average of about one in 33 at the end of the 20th century.
The call comes amid rising temperature's leading to higher water usage across the country.
Beaufort West mayor Noel Constable said the municipality is urging residents to use water sparingly as they are doing everything to keep the taps from running dry.
Drought is a natural phenomenon. But there's a lot more we can do as government and people to mitigate against the effects of it, writes Yonela Diko.
“We are pleading with anyone who can assist us … before we all die.”
The El Nino-induced drought that hit southern Africa in 2015 scorched grazing lands and hit crop output.
The city council said it was decommissioning a third dam on Friday after reservoir levels fell to 6% of capacity.
Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu said many South Africans had criticised continued messages about the importance of washing hands with water, asking where they would get the water to do this.
However, the Water Department said that there were still high-risk municipalities like Beaufort West, Prince Albert, Laingsburg, Kannaland and Mossel Bay.
The City of Cape Town's Michael Webster said that the drought was a wake-up call during which many lessons were learnt and a water strategy was developed.
Musa’s death last month further enflamed the mood among residents of Mandela Park township on the edge of QwaQwa in South Africa, turning intermittent protests over water shortages into a full-blown, week-long riot.
The grain reserve has capacity to hold 500,000 tonnes but it has been run down after a poor harvest. Zimbabwe consumes 80,000 tonnes of maize every month.
Wine sales in South Africa dropped by around 10 million bottles last year.
In hydroponic farming, water is conserved because it is reused multiple times. Hydroponically grown plants also require no pesticides because there are no soil-borne diseases.
Mayor Noel Constable said that the town has always had water issues but in recent years, the situation had worsened to levels never seen before.