NON-essential use of water has been banned in several Zululand municipalities in the wake of a severe drought crippling the northern KZN region.
As the provincial government struggles to ensure water security, residents in drought-stricken municipalities have been urged not to fill their swimming pools, wash their cars and water their gardens.
The local districts most affected and declared disaster areas are uMkhanyakude, uThungulu, iLembe and Zululand.
‘We are serious and for those who will not heed the call, there will be harsh consequences,’ said KZN MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube on Tuesday.
‘Residents who fail to heed the government’s call to conserve water will be severely fined.’
The MEC said the drought was ‘getting out of control’ and the provincial government required wide-ranging support from the public to manage the effects of the natural disaster.
Dube-Ncube met with mayors on Tuesday to deliberate on the disbursement of R352-million from the national Department of Water and Sanitation allocated as disaster relief for KZN.
Zululand and iLembe received R37-million each, uMkhanyakude R91-million and uThungulu R48-million.
‘I have told all mayors of districts that are affected by drought to channel this money where it is required. Under no circumstances shall we allow this money to be underspent. It is a drought relief fund and it must be used as such,’ said Dube-Ncube.
Appeal
uMhlathuze Municipal Manager Dr NJ Sibeko said if residents continued to waste water, it would become a very expensive commodity.
‘This is an appeal to our level of conscientious. If we understand the crisis we are facing currently, we should not be washing cars and watering gardens. We should not leave taps running and if residents notice any leakages, they should report the problem so that we can dispatch municipal staff immediately,’ Sibeko told the Zululand Observer.
He said a municipal team was already conducting inspections where car washers usually operated to curb water wastage.
The uThungulu District Municipality will meet with mayors of its local municipalities on Thursday (tomorrow) to discuss and plan the utilisation of the R48-million fund.
