WATCH | Graaff-Reinet toddler dances in the rain for first time in his life

With the water crisis in Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape having dragged on for more than two years, some young children have never seen the rain. 

The town's main water supply, the Nqweba Dam, is dry. 

To demonstrate the extent of the crisis in the area, resident Vauldi Carelse posted a video of her sister's child dancing in the rain for the first time in his life. 

“Want to know how bad the water crisis is in my town?” she asked in the Twitter post. 

“It hasn’t rained in Graaff-Reinet (and I mean properly rained) for more than two years.

“This little guy, just over 18 months old, encountered water falling from the sky for the first time the other day. It was just a drizzle,” she said. 

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Carelse said it was the worst drought in the area in living memory. 

“My parents still live there, three generations have stayed in Graaff-Reinet,” she said.

“My dad says he's never seen anything like this. The taps have never run dry. He has said that the dam has run dry before, but never to the extent that they have to rely on boreholes.

“The dam has been dry for months.”

Carelse said her nephew danced for hours.

“He hasn't touched it [before], heard it, nothing. He spent the entire time it rained outside.”

Gift of the Givers has intervened in the area, providing drilling machines and water tankers.