Durban - Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, is urging residents in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality not to waste water. His warning comes as the province has had to issue water restrictions in a bid to stave off Day Zero.
Speaking to eNCA, Mchunu said teams are assessing the infrastructure in a bid to tackle the ongoing water crisis. He further urged communities not to waste water.
"The situation is bad. We are taking measures, some are restricting in nature. I want to emphasise that we are running out of water in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Everybody must know and understand and accept that we have very little water in Nelson Mandela, so when you bath that each time you do it, please think about tomorrow, think about next door, next week and next month, don't turn around and around. Just stand straight once and then you're done," Mchunu said.
Mchunu and department officials are in NMB to address the water shortages.
Director-General of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Dr Sean Philips, on Monday led public consultations with various stakeholders in the water sector pertaining to the third edition of the National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS-3).
The consultations follow a government gazette notice issued by Mchunu last month. The consultations are part of the public comments required for the third edition of the National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS-3) within 90 days.
In his keynote address at the public consultations, Phillips highlighted a new reality of climate change which has posed a threat to water security in the country, which in turn has a knock-on effect on sectors such as agriculture, health and energy that are highly reliant on water.
IOL