Its inter-ministerial task team met on the drought and water scarcity on Thursday and announced a process to declare a national drought disaster that could would be finalised before Wednesday.
“Currently, efforts are under way to classify the drought as a national disaster,” Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Des van Rooyen said.
“The declaration will empower the minister or his delegate to issue regulations and/or directives in dealing with the drought disaster.
“We need to protect our farmers because we depend on them for food security.” Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane said agriculture owned most of the country’s dams.
We own about 323 dams while municipalities own 318 dams across the country.
Dams are also owned by other government departments as well as the mining sector,” she said.
“We have a national minister of water and sanitation.
We have a minister of agriculture and a minister of co-operative governance.
Mokonyane was indirectly referring to DA leader Mmusi Maimane who had taken over the communications role on the water crisis in Cape Town.
@JasonFelix jason.felix@inl.co.za Cape Argus

The national government on Wednesday availed six water trucks to supply clean water to drought residents of Baringo county who are experiencing acute water shortage.
Water PS Professor Fred Segor launched the exercise a week after media expose.
The water will be supplied by the Rift Valley Water Services Authority tracks Segor noted there is hunger in area due to prolonged drought, a situation that would see many schools closed unless the government moves with speed to supply relief food.
He however disputed claims that some schools in the area had been closed down due to water scarcity.
He said the government will sink 30 boreholes and open up pan dams as a lasting solution to water challenges in the lowland areas.
More than 200 schools are facing closure as residents are forced to trek 30 kilometres in search for water both for their livestock and domestic use.
On Friday last week, Tiaty residents stormed Riongo Primary School armed with clubs, sticks and pandas, and threatened to have the school closed down so as to migrate with their children in search for water and pasture.
The school is among 11 schools about to be closed in Silale Ward alone whereas 118 schools face similar water challenge.
Segor said the supply will go on until the rains start in April.

The ruling did, however, pressure public water company PAM Jaya into an ‘internal restructure’ of existing contracts.
Another reason is the privatisation of water services in Jakarta, which has created an imbalance of public and business interests.
History of privatisation The privatisation of water services in Jakarta began in 1991 under the Water Sector Adjustment project with a $92 million loan from the World Bank.
In addition, pipe installation concentrates on Jakarta’s middle to upper class residences.
Despite this, Indonesia used its most recent submission for the UN’s sustainable development targets to claim access to This isn’t totally without basis, as the proportion of poor and vulnerable groups accessing clean water in Indonesia has increased slightly from .
Public pressures and the Court’s decision Jakarta water problems have sparked the emergence of citizen’s movements, grouping together as the Coalition of Jakarta Residents Opposing Water Privatisation.
From profit to service With remunicipalisation now taking place, PAM Jaya and the government must shift their attention to a service-oriented rather than profit-driven water system, and retain control of Jakarta’s water sector.
Full ownership or control over the provision’s key operations is one option.
When it remunicipalised its water sector in 2010, the French city used remunicipalisation to strengthen its citizen engagement.
With strong community participation, the city is striving to create an egalitarian water management system.

Cape Town – Emergency funding to stave off the dreaded Day Zero, when the taps in Cape Town will run dry, could be more easily accessed should the national government declare the drought in many of South Africa’s provinces a national disaster.
The meeting of the inter-ministerial task team meeting on the drought and water scarcity has announced this process could be finalised soon, with a declaration of a national disaster possible by Valentine’s Day, February 14.
This will legally assign the responsibility to the national executive to coordinate the disaster, while a declaration is being considered to be finalized within a period of a month.
We are convinced that this will enhance current measures to deal with the disaster.
Van Rooyen said the drought in the Cape Provinces (Western, Northern and Eastern Cape) was having a "profound negative impact" on the economies of the affected provinces.
Government can therefore not sit idle while the situation deteriorates.
"To this effect, the Inter Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) on drought and water scarcity (as established in 2015) has been actively championing integrated efforts to ensure that the country responds effectively to the drought situation.
He said current provincial dam levels made for grim reading.
Eastern Cape: 60.7% Gauteng: 94.6% Free State: 64.9% Mpumalanga: 76.9% KwaZulu-Natal: 52.6% North West: 67.4% Northern Cape: 76.2% Limpopo: 65.3% Western Cape: 23.7% National: 59.6% "Fellow South Africans, while we acknowledge that the drought has become a huge challenge, a number of measures have been implemented nationally and are bearing fruits," Van Rooyen said.
Working together, we can save water," Van Rooyen said.

"We make so many bottles a day — this is such a big place.
And before you go to each child, you need to wash your hands," care assistant Carmilla Slamdien told AFP as she described the water-intensive routine of feeding, washing and sterilisation.
Nazareth House’s residents are among the city’s most vulnerable people.
They now face the prospect that their taps will be shut off within months as the three-year-long drought — the worst in more than a century — leaves reservoirs empty.
Most Cape Town residents will be forced to queue at communal taps at 200 water points — likely under police or military guard — to collect a daily ration of 25 litres (6.6 US gallons) or half the amount allowed now.
"You don’t know if there’ll be water," said Twani of the three taps that supply several hundred residents.
City officials estimate that informal settlement’s like Twani’s use just five percent of the city’s water.
He doubted that residents of Cape Town’s wealthier areas — which account for more than 65 percent of total consumption — would cope with water queues and ever stricter limits.
But Twani said guests at his hotel bar are well aware of Cape Town’s water crisis.
Women wearing expensive floral-print pencil dresses waited alongside young men in labourers’ overalls and families with children wearing uniforms from both private and government schools.

Capetonians collect water from the Kalk Bay spring on Feb. 1; at some springs, waits can drag on for hours.
That was on Feb. 1, just after the mayor’s office here in Cape Town announced new water restrictions.
According to current projections, Cape Town will run out of water in a matter of months.
Mikhael Subotzky—Magnum Photos for TIME Millions of people around the world live without sufficient access to water.
An even grimmer scenario now looms: Day Zero, when the government will turn off the taps for most homes and businesses in the city to conserve the very last supplies.
The looming shutdown has prompted chaos, with a run not only on bottled water but also on water tanks and jerricans.
Cape Town may be the first major city to run out of water, but it won’t be the last.
In Mexico City, residents are already experiencing cuts to their piped water supply, and officials in Melbourne (another city affected by drought) warn that the city is little more than a decade away from exhausting current water supplies.
Many township residents already line up at a central tap to get their daily water supply.
But once the taps run dry, we won’t even have that.

PULWAMA: Wahibugh village in Pulwama district is facing acute water scarcity with residents accusing authorities of failing to provide drinking water supply.
The residents told Kashmir Reader that they have been without water supply from past one month and had to face immense hardships.
They said women folk from the village have to stand in long queues at few tube wells to fetch water for cooking and drinking.
Many others have to fetch waters from streams.
“Those who fetch water from streams were risking their lives as the stream water is contaminated and can invite epidemics in the village,” a villager said adding that if the water supply to the village was not restored the residents would come out on the streets.
They said that they have complained to Public Health Engineering department several times, the department has “left us on God’s mercy”, even though “several residents of village are employees in the department”.
The villagers appealed minister of state and higher officials of PHE to look into the problem.
Executive Engineer PHE Pulwama and Shopian, Nisar Ahmad told Kashmir Reader that he inspected the area himself and found that they have spring water which was utilized by Goosu residents.
“The water level in that spring has depleted and we have drift scheme but due to frequent power curtailments uninterrupted water supply could not be made possible,” he said, adding that he has consulted the mechanical division of PHE for drift water scheme which would soon be operational.
He, however, said that they would provide water tankers to the villagers till the problem gets solved.

Fazil Buchh Srinagar: Students of Government College of Engineering and Technology(GCET), Jammu on Wednesday held a protest demonstration outside the college premises against lack of adequate water facilities in college hostel from past two weeks.
Students said they are surviving without water facility from past two weeks, and have no option but to go to college without taking bath.
The situation has worsened since two weeks, as there is hardly any water facility to even drink.
Further, the students complained that overhead tank is dysfunctional due to blockade in water pipes.
Students further said that even after raising the issue time and again no initiative was taken by the authorities till now.
Meanwhile, students also complained against negligent attitude of a warden who fails to carry his duties by remaining absent.
Speaking on the issue, Dr Sameeru Sharma who is the Principal of GCET agreed that it is a matter of serious concern and administration is looking forward to addressing the issue.
“I have personally informed Jammu and Kashmir Public Construction Company about the issue.
Two new motors will be installed within a day to pump the water,” Sharma said.
“the issue would be resolved within 24 hours and will depute a new warden for the hostellers, she added.

Cape Town – Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen has defended national government’s handling of the drought in the Western Cape, saying the government could not heed earlier calls to declare the province a disaster area because “processes” had to be followed.
Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Van Rooyen said the country remained adversely affected by the drought situation, especially three provinces.
“The Disaster Management Act says it has to affect a number of provinces.
“Why have you not declared a national disaster earlier?
Van Rooyen defended the delay in declaring a national disaster in the three affected provinces.
“We could not be put in a tight corner because some people want to realise their objectives not known to us.
We followed the due processes to deal with this,” the minister said.
Van Rooyen also said the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs would consider declaring the three Cape provinces gripped by drought national disaster areas.
The meeting was to decide on whether to declare the provinces national disaster areas when officials made technical presentations to the task team.
The three of Cape provinces have already declared themselves as disaster areas due to the drought which has left many of their towns running short of water.

The Executive Engineer Irrigation Nusrat Division of Shaheed Benazirabad has announced that different outlet canals of Nusrat Branch would remain closed from February 7 to February 14, 2018 NAWABSHAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 06th Feb, 2018 ):The Executive Engineer Irrigation Nusrat Division of Shaheed Benazirabad has announced that different outlet canals of Nusrat Branch would remain closed from February 7 to February 14, 2018.
According to the announcement, the step has been taken due to paucity of canal water.
As per schedule outlets of Padidan-1 Sub Division including Jalbani Minor, Chaheen Minor, Daraki Minor, Cheeho Minor, Tetri Minor and Kot Laloo Minor would remain close from February 7 to February 14, 2018.
Similarly the outlet canals of Nawabshah-2 Sub Division including Right Jarri Minor, Left Jarri Minor, Kapro Minor, Dhanar Minor, Bhit Maroo Minor and Dohji Minor would also remain close during the same period.
Announcement further said that outlet canals of Nawabshah-1 Sub Division including Darro Minor, Dhoro Naro Minor, Khaiaryoon Minor, Jheemal Minor, Nawaz Dahri Minor and outlet canals of Shahpur Sub Division including Suhailo Minor, Deewanabad Minor, Jamsahib Distry, Wasro Minor, Chhan Bandhni Minor and Shah Hussain Minor would also remain close from February 7 to February 14, 2018 till 6 am.
Executive Engineer said that the canals would resume normal flow soon the water situation improves.