The debilitating drought in the Eastern Cape is likely to hit poor rural villagers and seasonal farm workers hard unless rain falls soon, say farmers and water authorities.
The Kouga Dam, the main dam in the Gamtoos citrus and vegetable farming district, remains at a critically low 10% after rain in February, before which it was at a record low of 7.1%.
Kouga Municipality introduced water rationing in August 2017.
Fruit and vegetable farming is completely dependent on irrigation, and district farmers have largely abandoned vegetable crops to favour their fruit trees.
Petrus du Preez of Agri Eastern Cape farmers’ union said on Wednesday that some farmers with long-term retail contracts had moved their operations to other areas to retain their relationships.
"It is not cost-effective, but they are doing it to survive."
"Young trees can be kept alive with hand watering, but not vegetables."
March is usually a rainy month for the area.
The forecast for the coming months was poor, said South African Weather Service spokesman Garth Sampson.
"We need widespread rain of 50mm or more to make any difference to our main storage dam levels."