Several province are in the grips of a severe drought with the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal being declared disaster areas.
Mokonyane says less than 30 percent of the groundwater currently available is being utilised.
“South Africa over time has undermined the value of groundwater, and what we definitely need to do is to use science information that shows that there is still an opportunity to explore groundwater.”
Mokonyane says South Africa's poor water usage habits are finally showing its effects.
She says the country is facing a crisis by virtue of the fact that it is a water-scarce land.
Mokonyane says small dams have run completely dry in some areas, a situation she says may be the worst since the 1960s.
Over R300 million has been set aside for the implementation of relief strategies.
