South Africans should use water sparingly to fight against the coronavirus pandemic which requires the constant washing of hands with soap to kill the virus, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has said.
With the country’s water dam levels starting to dwindle in the dry winter season, Sisulu on Thursday called on South Africans to start saving water to use it as a weapon to fight the disease which has killed over 300 people in the country.
“The current water levels have the potential to sustain us until the next summer rains, provided we use water wisely and sparingly,” she said.
Amid the dwindling water supplies, “the past two weeks’ dam levels have decreased marginally from 70.8 to 70.6 percent.
“The decrease is expected to be exacerbated by the absence of rainfall in the middle of winter,” the minister said.
She pointed out that amid the outbreak of the pandemic, water has played a crucial role in pushing back the spread of the disease.
The deadly virus has so far infected 18,003 South Africans and claimed 339 lives since its outbreak in the country in March this year.
NM/jn/APA