This is according to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). The departmental spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, says the province, as it stands, has about 14 billion cubic meters of water, as weekly reported by the department.

He says the province has arguably the biggest sized dams in the country, including the Gariep Dam, which currently has 5 billion cubic meters of water in storage.

Ratau says the dams in the province that have increased their dam levels are Egmont which is at 102,5% and Bloemhof which is at 101,2%.

He says other dams that also increased their percentages further, includes Saulspoort at 102,2% and Erfenis at 99%. “Sterkfontein Dam, the reserve bank of water for the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), is another reservoir in the province that boasts 2 billion cubic meters of water in the current week’s readings.”

“The province is among those that received consistent rainfall during the summer,” he says.

Ratau says currently Gauteng has stored 122,1 million cubic meters of water and its dam levels have remained at 95,3% since last week.

“This is against the backdrop of the province having the fewest and probably the smallest number of dams in the country. The province is the biggest beneficiary of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS),” he further adds. Ratau also says that the North West has the fewest rivers which render its current water storage at 569,3 million cubic metres and the estimated dam levels of 65,5% are likely to prompt municipalities across the province to impose stringent water restrictions to save drinking water from complete dissipation in the middle of winter.

OFM News/Palesa Nteo and Lucky Nkuyane