Eastern Cape drought
The ongoing drought starting in 2015 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. Local hydrologist, Gideon Groenewald, has stated that it could be the worst drought the area as experienced in one thousand years and has had serious negative socioeconomic impacts on the region. Heavy rains in 2019 were not enough to break the drought. Reasons cited for the severity of the drought include poor water management by local government, unpredictable rainfall patterns and vandalism of local infrastructure. Areas of the Eastern Cape that overlap with the Karroo, such as the area around Graaff-Reinet, have been especially badly hit. The drought took place at the same time as the Cape Town water crisis.
