In the Eastern Cape, no one can remember the last proper downpour. Some say it was five years ago, others six.
JOHANNESBURG – Farmer Steve Bothma heaved a sigh of relief when the weatherman finally predicted rain.
Rapid urbanisation and growing water consumption have placed a strain on water reserves and caused the coastal city of Cape Town to almost run dry in 2018.Dam levels dropped dangerously low in October, prompting President Cyril Ramaphosa to call for "drastic measures". Arid fields flanked the windy gravel road leading to the nearest town of Adelaide, tucked at the bottom of a mountain range.In town, livestock roamed the streets and nibbled at scorched grass on the golf course.Some of Adelaide's 15,000 inhabitants had been without running water for seven months.
"We are keeping it for food and drink," said Rodney Douglas, 59, pushing a wheelbarrow piled high with plastic jerrycans. Adelaide deputy mayor Bornboy Ndyebi said the town's pipelines were in poor shape, and Thandekile Mnyimba, who heads the regional district of Amathole, told AFP that water trucks supplied by the government had broken down.
Ramaphosa has sought to pin the blame on years of poor governance under former president Jacob Zuma, whom he succeeded in 2018.
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