 | This article needs to be updated.(November 2021) |
The Eastern Cape region of South Africa experienced a severe multi-year drought from 2015 through early 2020. [1] [2] The drought was one of the worst in the region's history and led the South African government to declare the region a "disaster area" in October 2019. [3] The drought was a recurrence of the 1992 Eastern Cape Drought, which had resulted from similar weather patterns. [4]
A local hydrologist, Gideon Groenewald, has stated that it could be the worst drought the area as experienced in one thousand years [5] [6] and has had serious negative socioeconomic impacts on the region. [7] Heavy rains in 2019 were not enough to break the drought. [8] [9] Reasons cited for the severity of the drought include poor water management by local government, unpredictable rainfall patterns, [10] and vandalism of local infrastructure. [11] Areas of the Eastern Cape that overlap with the Karoo, such as the area around Graaff-Reinet, have been especially badly hit. [12] [13] The drought has caused projected financial losses of R6.4 billion in livestock production, with extensive livestock areas accounting for some 5,600 jobs. [14] The drought started to take place at the same time as the Cape Town water crisis.