South Africa’s water affairs minister is urging citizens to reduce their water use as a hot, 
dry October pushes the country toward yet another water shortage.
The country has imposed water restrictions in major metros, as a cautionary measure.
“We have to immediately begin to disaster-proof South Africa and South Africa’s security of water,” Lindiwe Sisulu told journalists in Johannesburg.
Despite the emergency, Sisulu says there is no need for citizens to panic, but the country does need to be prudent in the way that it uses water.
The earliest rains were expected in December, “so we are in for a long dry season,” that would be “getting longer, more intense and more frequent,” she said.
South Africa ranks as one of the top 30 most water-scarce countries in the world, a situation worsened by the el-Nino induced drought that hit southern Africa in 2015.
In 2018, Cape Town only narrowly avoided “Day Zero” after declaring a state of emergency and restricting consumption to 50 litres per person per day.
