Food security under threat in S.Africa as drought continues

Dried maize corn plants in drought affected areas (C)WaldoSwiegers/Bloomberg

South Africa’s water shortage is being attributed to the heat wave and a lack of rain due to the El Niño effect on the climate. As the country continues to battle a shortage of water, the most affected are farmers who are unable to harvest crops or feed livestock. An inter-ministerial task team led by Minister Pravin Gordhan told the media on Friday that North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Free State bore the brunt of the water crisis.
Minister of water and sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, has cautioned South Africans living in the other four provinces to use water sparingly.
"Regional water supply dams and schemes remain water secure and are sitting with a positive water balance, with the national average dam level currently at 66%,” she said.
Gordhan echoed Mokonyane’s sentiments that there was no drought in Gauteng. He said there were 1.4 million households in Johannesburg, and only 8 000 were suffering water interruptions.
"Water scarcity is a serious issue. But we need to get to terms with the short-term, urgent issues while also understanding the long-term challenges. There have been some who've said we've only woken up now [with regards to the water crisis]. That is not true. Since 2013, the SA government has been heavily involved specifically with the Disaster Relief Centre to deal with the potential of drought,” he said.