Droughts have been identified as an environmental hazard by environmentalists, ecologists, hydrologists, meteorologists, geologists, and agricultural experts. Droughts are characterised by a decrease in precipitation over a lengthy period, such as a season or a year, and can occur in virtually all climatic zones, including both high and low rainfall locations. This study reviewed drought-related impacts on the environment and other components particularly, in South Africa. Several attempts have been made using innovative technology such as earth observation and climate information as recorded in studies. Findings show that the country is naturally water deficient, which adds to the climate fluctuation with the average annual rainfall in South Africa being far below the global average of 860 mm per year. Drought in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, for example, has resulted in employment losses in the province’s agriculture sector. According to the third quarterly labor force survey from 2017, the agricultural industry lost almost 25,000 jobs across the country. In the Western Cape province, about 20,000 of these were lost which has a direct impact on income generation. Many of these impacts were linked to drought events.

The study analyzed the impact of landuse types on surface water quality in an emerging urban city. The objectives were to classify the existing landuse types, examine the variation in water quality across different landuse types, examine the quality of surface water using the water quality index, and compare the water quality parameters with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Samples drawn from surface waters were analyzed based on in situ and ex situ analysis according to standard methods. Three landuse types were identified namely residential, vegetated and commercial. The vegetated landuse accounted for the highest landuse type with 74% of land coverage. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine the variation in water quality parameters within each landuse type. There was a significant variation in total solids (F = 8.677, P < 0.05), total dissolved solids (F = 7.836, P < 0.05), and total suspended solids (F = 10.365, P < 0.05). Using the water quality index calculator 1.0, a value of 41 was obtained thereby indicating poor quality. Water quality parameters were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standards, and it was observed that electrical conductivity, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, chloride were below WHO permissible limit while total dissolved solids, bacterial load and total solids were above the limit set by WHO. Therefore, there should be a continual intensive water quality monitoring program of surface waters across the area and its immediate environs to maintain healthy lifestyle of the populace and ensure ecosystem balance.