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Faizel Patel – 05/02/2021
The persistent rainfall which has hit parts of the country for about two weeks now has resulted in improved dam levels for the country’s largest water system.
The Water and Sanitation Department says critical dams in the integrated Vaal River system have seen increased water levels week on week to a healthier position.
This week alone, water levels have risen from just over 78% to nearly 80% while the last year during the same period the dam levels stood around 64%.
Speaking to Radio Islam, co-founder of Co-Founder of Food For Mzansi Kobus Louwrens says while farmers have welcomed the rain, it has also caused some devastation.
“It is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s helped some of the sub-sectors in the industry, but it’s been quite a bit of a problem for some of the crop farmers who ended up with very soggy, sodden land and whose crops may also been damaged. It comes at a slightly inconvenient time of the year for many of the people who plant and sow crops.”
Louwrens says Cyclone Eloise also affected farmers.
“So especially in parts of the parts of Mpumalanga, Limpopo and parts of KZN as well crops were damaged. At some point farmers were scared of even more damage happening. I think they felt they came off relatively lightly. There were fears of dams breaking and washing away soil.”
This week the Vaal Dam reached of a capacity of 82.4%.
Listen to the interview with Kobus Louwrens
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