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The Department of Water and Sanitation has announced that R50m had been allocated for drought intervention in Eastern Cape Municipalities.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by acting director-general, Trevor Balzer, during a joint media briefing in Nelson Mandela Bay by the Department as well as Amatola Water, Rand Water and NMBM.
He said the intervention would be in terms of the provision of water tanks "which will be transferred and delivered to the Municipalities to take responsibility and ownership of the tanks as Municipal assets."
Balzer said for a period of two months Water and Sanitation would assist with carting of the water.
"Our team will work very closely with the Municipalities to identify the vulnerable areas," he said.
Meanwhile, Department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said that they had delivered 5694 water tanks and 173 water trucks to serve communities around the Eastern Cape as part of drought and COVID-19 pandemic intervention.
He said this was done through Amatola Water and Rand Water, as well as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
"A total of 756 water tanks were also delivered and installed in priority schools around the province. 274 boreholes have been drilled to augment water supply in the province."
Ratau said Rand Water estimated that a further R6 million would be needed to procure 100 X 5000-litre tanks and 20 water trucks for further emergency intervention in Nelson Mandela Bay.
He said the Department would also ensure funding was available for the completion of the Nooitgedagt Water Scheme which will augment the Metro's water supply.
Acting Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Thsonono Buyeye, welcomed the intervention.
He said the Metro fixed 15 747 water leaks since May and seven contractors were appointed to fix the outstanding water leaks across the City.
The DA welcomed the additional funding and support, but MPL, Retief Odendaal, said he remained concerned that only two municipalities in the Eastern Cape currently have drought disaster declarations in place.
