KZN govt detail strategies to tackle drought
Tourism and Economic Development MEC, Mike Mabuyakhulu says neighbouring countries are assisting South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal in dealing with the drought but that they can only do so much.
Mabuyakhulu and his provincial cabinet colleagues held a media briefing at the Hluhluwe Game Reserve to provide details about the KZN government's plans to tackle the disaster.
"The neighbouring countries such as Swaziland and Mozambique are also affected and the one that we particularly share between ourselves and Swaziland being Ingwavuma River and Usuthu River - those rivers themselves are very, very low as we speak.
"So, there isn't a better chance for us to be able to get additional capacity coming from them. There are areas where we are actually co-operating with them," he said.
The cabinet has revealed a number of strategies to help deal with the current drought plaguing the province.
They include plans to increase the number of water tankers.
A meeting is also on the cards with associations from both subsistence and commercial farmers within the agricultural sector to discuss how government can assist.
Co-operative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube says they've moved quickly to mitigate the situation in the hardest-hit areas.
"Ezemvelo Wildlife has also started to cut water to the game parks and game reserves. We have a team of engineers that have been brought into Umkhanyakude and they're all working on various programmes to fast-track the delivery of water to various communities," she said.