According to communal farmers at the farm Amalia, in a space of just three days 12 goats have died of thirst.

Daniel Fleermuis yesterday told The Namibian that the earth dam from which the animals used to drink had dried up, saying people are now sharing their drinking water from a wind pump to keep the animals alive.

Fleermuis said the wind pump does not provide enough water for the people and their livestock because of inadequate groundwater and not enough wind.

"We have requested the directorate of Rural Water Supply and the elected leaders to address the water shortage, but it seems that our pleas have fallen flat," he said angrily.

According to Fleermuis, the Rural Water Supply office gave them excuses, while the elected leaders failed to deliver too.

"The only time you see an elected leader in this area is during election campaigns," Fleermuis said.

Fleermuis called upon the government to intervene and rescue the Amalia communal farmers before the drought worsens.

The Rural Water Supply regional head in Hardap, Piet de Klerk, yesterday acknowledged that there is an acute water shortage in the Gibeon constituency. He said the water crisis is fuelled by the extremely poor rainfall in the area this year.

De Klerk rejected claims that the directorate had turned a blind eye to the community's water problems.

"We're doing our best to ensure that people have access to water in the area," he said.

He said plans are afoot to conduct a study in the area to find a permanent solution to the water problem there.

The Gibeon Constituency regional councillor, Jeremia van Neel, also acknowledged the water crisis in the area.

"Almost all earth dams in the area have dried up," said Van Neel.

Saying he had convened several meetings with the affected people to find ways to solve the water crisis, Van Neel claimed people at Amalia had boycotted these meetings and had never complained about water shortages.

Van Neel said his office was at work hard to source funding to drill more boreholes in the area.