POLOKWANE – Limpopo government departments, agricultural unions and other stakeholders are scheduled to hold a series of top-level meetings from next week on the growing water shortage in the province.

This follows a warning by Premier Sello Moloto that serious cutbacks in economic development programmes may be necessary.

The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has scheduled three initial rounds of public meetings for the Waterberg region of the province, which is normally least affected by drought conditions, but is now starting to experience serious water shortages, because of a considerable drop in the level of the Mokolo River.

The first round of meetings is to be held next week at Alma, Vaalwater and Lephalale, three districts situated in the catchment area of this river, which provides water for agriculture, mining and industry, as well as domestic use in many rural communities.

Meanwhile, the Limpopo Department of Agriculture has confirmed that an increasing number of farmers in other parts of Limpopo, devastated by the prevailing drought conditions, have been forced to apply for government aid.

In this regard, 264 applications were recently received from the Lepahale district alone, and parts of the traditionally productive Springbok Flats have been added to the crisis list.

Limpopo Regional Agricultural Union Chairperson Dries Joubert said this week that the situation in the province would soon reach catastrophic proportions, as most districts had received only 50% of their normal rainfall for the past four years.

One of his most serious concerns was that game farmers had not been included in drought aid packages, and he appealed to the government to investigate this situation, so that it could receive the attention it deserved.

Earlier Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto told a media briefing in Musina that pipelines from major water schemes in neighbouring countries might have to be considered, in order to resolve the province’s long-term water problems. He added that it would soon become compulsory for households throughout the province to have their own tanks, in order to store rainwater for garden and general use, with municipal water only earmarked for domestic and personal use. - BuaNews