No more money for drought relief
Zululand District municipality had received the fourth highest allocation in KZN for drought relief.
“There will be no more money,” was the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) simple response when asked repeatedly if it could provide financial assistance to Abaqulusi municipality to ensure water supply.
Angela Masefield explained that R520 million had been made available by government for drought relief and, of the municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand District had received the fourth highest allocation, a sum of about R14 million.
“The trick to averting the water crisis we now face, would have been to bring in the water restrictions early enough and to have made sure that the water restrictions were well managed,” said Ms Masefield. “If this had been done Abaqulusi would not be in the situation that it is now.”
She warned that ‘water shedding’ now or stopping the flow of water to certain areas altogether for a duration of time, would cause bursts and leaks in the water supply system.
