The North West Provincial Disaster Management Centre has been allocated more than R300 million in drought relief.
The money will be used to upgrade water supply infrastructure.
This comes as several towns in the North West province undergo water interruptions daily due to shortages.
But, it may take several more months for residents to experience relief as a lot of work needs to be done to restore the mostly dilapidated framework.
Waking up to dry taps, residents are at their wits end.
Farmers started to irrigate in September and many boreholes ran dry.
Department of Water and Sanitation Chadwick Lobakeng says:”We have nine boreholes that we would normally supply from during the peak of that shortage, there were only three boreholes that were functional. So you can only imagine that would lead to a shortage of supply to Mafikeng. We have currently restored two boreholes.”
Although work has commenced to repair asbestos pipes, time is running out, as the festive season and consequent builders’ holidays, approach.
As another heat wave hits the province this week, dam levels are expected to decline even further. Setumo Dam, which supplies Mahikeng, is currently only 59% full, compared to last year’s 90%.
Related video click below:
