CAPE TOWN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has classified drought conditions and water supply disruptions in parts of the country as a national disaster.
The classification was announced by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in a government gazette published on Wednesday.
Elias Sithole, head of the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) in the CoGTA, said that the decision was made "after having considered reports submitted on drought and the possible interruption of large scale water provision by organs of state in terms of the potential impact and magnitude in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape."
"I regard the life safety risk and impact posed by drought and the possible interruption of large scale water provision in these provinces as a potential disaster and ... I classify the disaster as a national disaster," said Sithole.
According to the gazette, following the classification, the primary responsibility to coordinate and manage this national disaster is now designated to the National Executive.
"I hereby call upon all organs of state to further strengthen their support provided to the existing structures to implement their contingency arrangements and to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to enable the National Executive to effectively deal with the effects of this national disaster," Sithole said.
Organs of state, the private sector, communities and individuals were also encouraged to "improve their practices of risk avoidance programs through the implementation of targeted drought alleviation practices and the conservation of water both on the supply and demand side of water provision," he added.
This is not the first time South Africa has taken such a step this year. In January, the NDMC declared a national disaster, following severe weather and widespread flooding that affected Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and North West provinces. ■