The Department of Water and Sanitation said on Thursday that it has deployed water tankers to provide water to areas that had been hardest hit by the drought.

These include rural areas in the KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Limpopo province, which have been declared disaster areas.

Other provinces affected by drought include, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.

In Gauteng the municipalities are experiencing strain on the supply systems due to high demand and current high temperatures.

Deputy Director General for Planning and Transformation, Deborah Mochotlhi said there were short, medium to long-term measures in place to deal with drought.

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