THE national government has declared drought-hit Amathole District Municipality a disaster area.

Typical is Dutya, where desperate residents have been queueing for water until late at night after their water dried up 10 days ago.

Municipal spokesperson Gail Pullen said they were one of five district municipalities declared disaster areas.

Their dams had completely run dry in such towns as Bedford, Adelaide, Chintsa, Dutywa and, recently, Hogsback.

Cathcart had about a month’s supply of water left.

In Dutywa yesterday, some people collected water from a tanker while others walked around with empty buckets and bottles looking for a place to fill up with water.

“We are struggling very much,” said local resident Toto Jack. “What we have to do is stand in long queues, sometimes till nine at night, and when the water tanks are empty we just have to go back and try again tomorrow.”

Jack, who grew up in Dutywa, said: “All my life I am living here and it has never been this bad. Since last year there have been water restrictions and what is worse is that we don’t hear anything from the municipality.

“We feel terrible that we don’t know when this problem will end. We can’t live like this.”

Local businesses are furious with the lack of a steady water supply.

Yolanda Mausi, of Mausa’s Salon, said they had been forced to close shop for the past three weeks because the municipality had failed to provide JoJo tanks to the town’s CBD. “We need about 80 litres of water a day to do our business. Today is the first time these water tanks are stopping on this road.”

Dutywa hotel owner John Botha said his business was suffering. “Last week all 33 rooms were full and our guests could only shower in the afternoon, using the rain water we had collected.” He had requested water tanks from the municipality but had not received them.

Pupils staying at hostels in Dutywa said the situation was hampering their learning time.

“We sometimes don’t get a chance to do our homework because we finish class at three in the afternoon and then we have to go and fetch water from the tanks,” said Mida Christian School Grade 12 pupil Sinazo Dlambulo. “When the lines are long we wait there till 9, 10, or even 11pm, so there is no time for us to study.”

Her friend Aneza Luningo said they also had to contend with bullies. “We wait in the lines for a long time and sometimes bullies come and try to steal our water. So we have to fight to keep our buckets.”

For others, like concerned resident Yonela Kwinana, hygiene is a major concern as there is not enough water to clean themselves properly.

Toilets no longer work. Sibongile Futshane said she and her family had no choice but to go into the fields.

Pullen said the municipality had contingency plans. “We are doing the best we can with what we have. We are tankering water to a number of towns within the district where dams have run dry. We are currently hiring two 30 000 litre tankers to cart water from Butterworth to fill up 11 JoJo tanks that we have placed in Dutywa. In addition, we are using two 10 000 litre tankers (one of them hired) to cart water for the Goven Mbeki and Mputhi Villages.”

Pullen said they applied for R156million in drought relief funding from the national Treasury. So far, they had received only R12m. It cost the municipality about R25000 a day to tanker water to Chintsa alone.

“We are looking at all other alternatives, including sinking and commissioning boreholes … Even the boreholes are starting to run dry.

“We have established a drought task team and have developed a drought action plan to try and provide water to all our affected communities. However, we are in urgent need of additional funding.” — By LOIS MOODLEY Daily Dispatch

LAST week’s rains may have brought some relief for drought-stricken Eastern Cape farmers, but many are facing financial ruin if more does not fall soon.

Caught in one of the worst droughts in living memory, some farmers on the Sunshine Coast and Albany areas have even sold off cattle while others have been forced to truck in water in a desperate attempt to survive.

And while farmers stare down possible financial ruin, several towns in the district have imposed water restrictions as supplies reach dangerously low levels.

According to Agri-Eastern Cape president Kerneels Pietersen the “hardest hit” areas in the province run from Peddie through Grahamstown, Alexandria, Nanaga and Paterson to the Langkloof.

“In some areas this is the worst drought in 70 years,” he said.

“Many farmers are facing financial ruin. We have had tens of thousands of applications from all over the province for drought relief.”

Although more than R126million was requested from central government to help thousands of Eastern Cape farmers survive only R20m disaster relief was approved.

According to rainfall data, last year produced the lowest annual average in the Ndlambe area in almost 50 years.

Alexandria dairy farmer Paul Klopper said most farmers were already so deep in debt “even the bank manager was having sleepless nights”.

“If we do not have proper rains soon many farmers will go bankrupt. It will be an economic disaster for the province.”

Klopper said he was convinced dwindling rainfall in recent years was a result of global warming and that farmers would have to rethink how they did their business to survive.

“We have to adapt our farming methods to the changing weather conditions and also think about planting different crops instead of what we did before.”

Hardest hit by the prolonged drought are livestock farmers who have watched helplessly as dams and boreholes run dry.

They have also had to truck in feed as grazing rapidly disappeared.

With 580 cows to milk every day, Southwell farmer Colin Stirk said he was relieved that after three frustrating attempts he had finally managed to sink a borehole that produced much-needed water.

“We have been trucking in water just to survive. My family has farmed here more than 100 years and this is the worst drought since 1948.”

Veteran farmer Neville Bradfield said although the recent rains were welcomed, they did little to relieve the drought.

“We only got 16mm and although it has created an artificial green (grass) top it will all be gone in a week if we do not get more rain.

Water restrictions have been imposed in Ndlambe and Makana and fines of R200 or more will be handed out to people who break the one hour a day, two days a week watering times.

In Alexandria and Kenton-on-Sea, water supplies are being shut off at night to prevent taps running dry during the day. – By DAVID MACGREGOR, Port Alfred Bureau Dispatch Online