The humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers says its rapid response teams are battling to keep up with demands for help, as dam after dam, river after river and borehole after borehole dries up, amid continuous load shedding.
Founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman says small-town economies, dependent on festive season tourists, are at their wit's end as water is simply not available to service paying guests.
He says this challenging scenario is about to become a nightmare, as thousands of economically active citizens return home to the Eastern Cape in the coming days.
Sooliman says the demand for water is going to increase exponentially - amplifying the expanding crisis.
He says more borehole pumps will be installed in the coming days in Adelaide, Bedford, Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg, as all their lab tests for water came back as "suitable for consumption".
Sooliman says water is not the only requirement.
He says there is a huge need for fodder, and food parcels for both farmworkers and farmers, to save both the Eastern and Northern Cape, and these provinces' agricultural, labour-intensive economy.
