CAPE TOWN – Government said on Wednesday that the national state of disaster it declared in March over a drought that ravaged parts of the country, had lapsed after significant rainfall.
The three-year drought hit Cape Town particularly hard, threatening to leave residents of the country’s second-largest city without drinking water.
The government said it had conducted assessments which showed that the severe phase of the drought that affected agricultural production in a number of provinces was at an end.
The minister in charge of local governance, Zweli Mkhize, "confirmed that a national state of disaster that was declared on 13 March 2018 has lapsed," a government statement said.
READ: Big winter storm eyeing Western Cape Over R400-million was mobilised from various disaster grants to implement relief operations in an attempt to avoid turning taps off under a so-called "Day Zero" scenario and provide water to all regions.
In recent weeks, the Cape region, which typically receives rainfall between May and August, has experienced significant rains.
The Cape Town municipality said the water level in dams had risen to almost 32 percent from over 21 percent this time last year.
However, the city — battling its worst drought in 100 years — has called on the population to continue conserving water "given the uncertainty of rainfall".
"We have to make sure that we adhere to our goals and restrictions" — namely a daily consumption of 50 litres per person, the municipality said.

The three-year drought hit Cape Town particularly hard, threatening to leave residents of the country’s second largest city without drinking water.
The government said it had conducted assessments which showed that the severe phase of the drought that affected agricultural production in a number of provinces was at an end.
The minister in charge of local governance, Zweli Mkhize, "confirmed that a national state of disaster that was declared on 13 March 2018 has lapsed," a government statement said.
Over 400 million rand ($29 million) was mobilised from various disaster grants to implement relief operations in an attempt to avoid turning taps off under a so-called "Day Zero" scenario and provide water to all regions.
The drought has affected water intensive companies, such as winemakers who make up 11 percent of the southwestern region’s economic output and sustains 300,000 jobs.
In recent weeks, the Cape region, which typically receives rainfall between May and August, has experienced significant rains.
The Cape Town municipality said the water level in dams had risen to almost 32 percent from over 21 percent this time last year.
However the city—battling its worst drought in 100 years—has called on the population to continue conserving water "given the uncertainty of rainfall".
"We have to make sure that we adhere to our goals and restrictions"—namely a daily consumption of 50 litres per person, the municipality said.
By comparison, a single toilet flush uses nine litres of water and a one-minute-long shower uses 10 litres.

The funds have been allocated to the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces over the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years.
Making the announcement on Thursday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize said the approval and transfer of these funds is based on the conditions for the Municipal Provincial Disaster Grants, as stipulated in the applicable Grant Framework.
The funds were transferred to the recipients on 19 March 2018, except for the remaining funds for the agriculture sector in Northern Cape which will be transferred in two separate instalments during the 2018/19 financial year, based on the conditions on the ground, as well as progress on the implementation of relief measures within affected communities.
Minister Mkhize urged the grant recipients, which are provinces including relevant departments and municipalities, to implement the drought relief projects swiftly without any delays.
“This will be done through the relevant technical teams/work streams constituted by relevant national government departments and organs of state, as well as the Provincial Disaster Management Centres with relevant provincial or regional government departments and existing structures.
“The Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) [on Drought and Water Scarcity] will continue to monitor the drought conditions throughout the country as well as regularly provide leadership and oversight to the organs of state for appropriate decision making, including the regular review of decisions based on the drought and water shortage conditions within the country,” Minister Mkhize said.
Since the IMTT on Drought and Water Scarcity announced the declaration of drought as a national disaster on 13 March 2018, the severity of the drought is still evident in all the Cape provinces – Western, Eastern and Northern.
“We caution all people in South Africa, whether citizens or visitors, even though some parts of the country are receiving rains and others even experiencing flash flooding, it is important to note that we are not out of the woods yet with regard to drought conditions.
We call on tourists to continue visiting South Africa and experience all that our beautiful country has to offer,” Minister Mkhize said.
He said communities should protect water resources and infrastructure as well as report criminal acts to the relevant authorities.

Port Elizabeth – Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Zweli Mkhize on Thursday announced that a total amount of R433.524 million would be made available as immediate disaster relief funding for drought for the three most affected provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Of this amount, R348.846 million is to be transferred in the 2017/18 financial year, with the R84.678 million transferred in the 2018/19 financial year.
Last month, Mkhize on behalf of the inter-ministerial task team on water, declared the prevailing water crisis affecting multiple provinces a national state of disaster.
"The reclassification of the drought as a national disaster by the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, under Government Notice 107/2017 published in Government Gazette 41439 on 13 February 2018, designated the primary responsibility for the coordination and management of the disaster to the national executive who must act in close cooperation with the other spheres of government to deal with the disaster and its consequences," a statement read.
Mkhize emphasised that the declaration of a state of disaster at any level was not primarily aimed at requesting funding, but it is aimed at activating extra-ordinary measures, which might include funding, based on the need and other relevant conditions to address the impact of such a disaster.
African News Agency/ANA

Government has officially declared the drought and water crisis plaguing the country a national state of disaster.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Zweli Mkhize made the announcement on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water Scarcity during a media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The reclassification of the drought as a national disaster will allow the national executive, to act in close cooperation with the other spheres of government to deal with the disaster and its consequences.
Minister Mkhize said that three provinces including Western Cape, some parts of the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape are extremely affected, and are not yet showing comforting signs of improvement.
Measures to address underlying factors Minister Mkhize said government has taken measures to address underlying factors, including among others, weak intergovernmental relations arrangements in development planning and implementation, ageing infrastructure, lack of operations and maintenance of infrastructure, and capacity constraints particularly with regard to technical expertise.
Heightening drought interventions Actions to take place to ensure heightened drought interventions across the country include: The National Joint Drought Coordination Committee (NJDCC) will meet monthly and continue coordinating integrated multi-sectoral intervention measures to address the drought situation in the affected provinces.
The country will work hard to enhance the weather forecasting capacity to ensure impact-based early warning services to enhance public knowledge and safety from weather related incidents.
This will be done under the leadership of the South African Weather Services.
The sectors will continue activating their climate change adaptation strategies and plans to support municipalities within the provinces.
Municipalities must act by repairing the leaking pipes.

Government this week formally declared the drought as a “national state of disaster”.
Dr Zweli Mkhize, the minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), made the announcement during a media briefing by the inter-ministerial task team (IMTT) on drought and water scarcity in Cape Town on 13 March.
The budget also included more than R500 million in short-term assistance through disaster relief grants for provinces and municipalities.
COGTA communications head Legadima Leso said that the Western Cape had already received R74 million in assistance in 2017, and that requests from the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape had been received.
These were being scrutinised by COGTA, Treasury and the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), and an announcement would be made once a final decision had been reached.
Leso said that applications for assistance varied from requests by livestock farmers for feed, to assistance with transportation of water by water tankers.
They spanned all sectors of society, not only agriculture.
The fact that a national drought had been declared meant that even provinces not elevated to provincial disaster areas could benefit.
The declaration was not aimed primarily at requesting funding.
“It’s aimed at activating extraordinary measures, which might include funding, based on need and other relevant conditions to address the impact of such a disaster,” Mkhize said.

Pretoria – The current drought and water scarcity being experienced across South Africa was on Tuesday declared a national state of disaster by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize.
“In the case of the prevailing drought, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs has the legal authority in terms of the Disaster Management Act 2002 to declare a national state of disaster through notice in the Government Gazette, which is expected today [Tuesday] at around 10am,” Mkhize said as he addressed reporters in Cape Town.
“Accordingly, and in an effort to augment the arrangements that have already been put in place and following the recommendations of the IMTT [the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water], as the minister responsible for disaster management I have recognised that special circumstances exist, and have decided to declare the drought as a national state of disaster in terms of Section 27 (1) of the Act.” Mkhize clarified that the difference between “disaster classification” and “declaration of a state of disaster” is that when the disaster has been classified, but not declared, then the responsible sphere of government – municipal, provincial or national – must deal with the disaster within the parameters of its existing legislation and contingency arrangements.
“It is important at this point to indicate that the declaration of a state of disaster at any level is not primarily aimed at requesting funding.
It is aimed at activating extraordinary measures which might include funding, based on the need and other relevant conditions to address the impact of such a disaster.
Resources, of both technical and financial, should be mobilised by all spheres of government, private sector, non-governmental organisations and communities to implement intervention measures and consider recovery in the long term.” Regarding government interventions following the declaration of the disaster, Mkhize said the National Joint Drought Coordinating Committee will meet monthly and continue coordinating integrated multi-sectoral intervention measures to address the drought situation.
“With regards to funding, government stands ready to provide financial assistance where necessary and subject to legal prescripts.
During the Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance stated that a provisional allocation of R6 billion has been set aside in the 2018/19 financial year for several purposes, including drought relief and to augment public infrastructure investment,” said Mkhize.
“I hereby wish to report that measures are being put in place to ensure that requests for funding are being considered as received from the provinces and we will report progress in the next briefing.” The declaration on Tuesday will cover a period of three months, and government will re-assess if the state of disaster will have to be prolonged he added.
– African News Agency (ANA)