Eastern Cape drought

The ongoing drought starting in 2015[1] effecting the Eastern Cape region of South Africa is one of the worst droughts in to region's history. The drought led the South African government to declare the region a "disaster area" in October 2019.[2] Local hydrologist, Gideon Groenewald, has stated that it could be the worst drought the area as experienced in one thousand years[3][4] and has had serious negative socioeconomic impacts on the region.[5] Heavy rains in 2019 were not enough to break the drought.[6][7] Reasons cited for the severity of the drought include poor water management by local government, unpredictable rainfall patterns[8] and vandalism of local infrastructure.[9] Areas of the Eastern Cape that overlap with the Karroo, such as the area around Graaff-Reinet, have been especially badly hit.[10][11] The drought took place at the same time as the Cape Town water crisis.