The South African government said Wednesday that the national state of disaster it declared in March over a drought that ravaged parts of the country had lapsed after significant rainfall. The three-year drought hit Cape Town particularly hard, threatening to leave residents of the country's second largest city without drinking water.
The government said it had conducted assessments which showed that the severe phase of the drought that affected agricultural production in a number of provinces was at an end. The minister in charge of local governance, Zweli Mkhize, "confirmed that a national state of disaster that was declared on 13 March 2018 has lapsed," a government statement said.
Over 400 million rand ($29 million) was mobilised from various disaster grants to implement relief operations in an attempt to avoid turning taps off under a so-called "Day Zero" scenario and provide water to all regions.
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