Residents of South African coastal city Port Elizabeth face water rationing and deliveries by tanker after a long drought sapped reservoirs, local authorities and the Red Cross said.

"The current drought situation and a poor forecast for rain over the next three months has put communities in the Nelson Mandela metro in a dire situation as water reservoirs run dry," the humanitarian organisation said in a statement Thursday.

Water levels at dams around the Nelson Mandela Bay area that includes industrial hub Port Elizabeth have fallen as low as 20 percent.

"Day Zero has hit us and what that means is that we currently cannot keep up with the demand," the city's infrastructure and engineering head Mongameli Bobani had tweeted Wednesday.

With local government rationing supply, the Red Cross has called for water donations to help residents through the shortages, which have been making themselves felt over the past two weeks.

Mexico detains soldiers after death at water protest
Mexico City (AFP) Sept 11, 2020 - Mexican authorities said Thursday that 17 soldiers had been detained for investigation after a woman died in clashes between the military and residents angry at the diversion of water to the United States.

The National Guard members were handed over by their superiors to prosecutors in the northern state of Chihuahua following the woman's death on Tuesday.

Her husband was also wounded during the protest at the La Boquilla dam.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he regretted the death, but defended the military.

"The Guard acted very well because, first, they were outnumbered by protesters and even though they had weapons, they decided not to use them," he told reporters.

Lopez Obrador says that although Mexico is obliged to supply the United States with water under a 1944 treaty, it ensures that it does not affect supplies on its side of the border.

Lopez Obrador and Chihuahua state governor Javier Corral accuse each other of politicizing the issue of the dam.

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