Cape Town is running out of water and low dam levels in the highlands of Lesotho are raising alarm bells in Johannesburg, which has so far avoided the shortages hitting other South African regions.
The tourist hub of Cape Town may run dry in April and across the country water supplies have yet to recover from an El Nino-triggered drought two years ago, heralding potential water shortages that could hit industrial and agricultural output.
Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape province has imposed water restrictions, dam levels are at worrying levels in the sugar-cane producing province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and a swathe of South Africa's maize belt has been hit by drought.
Nationwide, water storage levels are ranked by authorities as moderately low on a scale that ranges from high to very low and Lesotho's dwindling supplies are attracting attention.
But the overall picture for South Africa is worrying, with Cape Town the most urgent.
Its residents, who will have daily limits cut from Thursday to 50 litres per person from 87 litres, face the grim prospect of the taps running dry.
The government has been urging people across the country to use water more wisely and cut consumption.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said the situation in Cape Town is a priority and officials are expected to announce contingency plans this week.
Much of the water that supplies Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg, Pretoria and much of the South Africa's industry, flows from the Katse and Mohale dams in Lesotho.
According to SA Affairs, dam levels in Lesotho are "very low" - the worst ranking - and are in their tenth per centile, meaning levels have been higher more than 90 per cent of the time at this point in the year.
Levels are lower than at the height of the drought two years ago when the combined levels of the dams were at almost 50 per cent capacity compared with 32 per cent now.
Experts say water in the dams should ideally be used for storage, but Pretoria is now drawing from Lesotho as it continues topping up Guateng's Vaal supply system.
