Farmer's Weekly reports this was according to water conservation and water law experts, who were speaking during a webinar held on Tuesday. Shelly Fuller, programme manager of sustainable fruit and wine projects at Worldwide Fund for Nature South Africa, said agriculture used the largest proportion of South Africa’s surface and groundwater resources. She added that while the sector made vital contributions to the country’s economy and society, it had to proactively implement meaningful actions to conserve water for its own long-term sustainability, and for the future needs of the rest of the country. Fuller added that such management efforts needed to include the removal of alien invasive plants that consumed up to 20% more water than indigenous vegetation, and improving soil health through conservation agriculture practices.

The Department of Water and Sanitation says recent rainfall has not had a positive impact on the levels of the Vaal Dam. This, as the dam continued to dip further down to even lower levels this week. Dam levels fell from 29.1% last week to 28.1% this week. The department says in a statement the dam is affected by a combination of a heatwave and the lack of continuous rainfall. It says the Vaal Dam is presently a far cry from the levels of 46.5% it recorded during the same week last year. Meanwhile, the Bloemhof Dam took a knock this week as its levels declined from 82% last week to 80% this week. Also, the Sterkfontein Dam continues to hold firm as shown by this week’s slight upsurge from last week’s 94.3% to the present 94.4%. Furthermore, the department is appealing to residents to use water sparingly. It also urges residents to be vigilant of leaking taps and burst pipes because their accumulative effect impacts negatively to the stability of the system.  

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In celebration of World Food Day, the North West Department of Agriculture identified needy households in Masuthle who received indigenous chickens, garden equipment, fruit trees and goats. The province's MEC for Agriculture, Desbo Mohono, says this day is commemorated to raise awareness of poverty and hunger amongst residents. She explains that World Food Day is important to the province as the North West is one of the provinces with many people who live below the poverty line. She says, as a result, it is critical for the province to ensure that a way is found to improve the lives of the people by establishing food security.

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