Dam break: water shortage a crisis of governance

South Africa’s water crisis is a painful reminder of how a water expert, Professor Anthony Turton, was suspended by his former employer, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), for firing a warning shot in 2008 about the looming water crisis. 

Ignoring expert advice has led the country to colossal catastrophes. Who can forget the recent energy loadshedding, which nearly collapsed the economy? And, people died unnecessarily due to HIV/AIDS denialism by senior leaders of the African National Congress (ANC), such as Thabo Mbeki and his late health minister, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who encouraged people to eat beetroot instead of taking medication. The ANC deliberately brought us to where we are now: the water crisis. 

It makes perfect sense that the government, media, activists, citizens, and commentators are now paying sufficient attention to the water issue since it has affected the country’s economic hub, the City of Joburg. The city harbours about 6.6 million people, a population almost double that of North West province. Available data shows that the City of Cape Town has surpassed Joburg as the top employer, the prime motivation for people to migrate to those two cities for employment and business opportunities. 

It is myopic for the government to hold on to the water management resources and infrastructure that it inherited from the apartheid government, resources meant only for the minority white population. Logical-thinking would lead one to begin by massively increasing capacity and focusing on regular maintenance of the existing infrastructure, which would ensure that the growing population was catered for. Rather, the focus of politicians and tenderpreneurs has been to loot money in the name of solving water issues by providing unsustainable water tanks procured for comrades. 

Although Israel is a small, semi-arid country with about 10 million people, it has been able to achieve water security and become a world leader in that area through infrastructure investment, innovative technology, and skilled management. Water governance is technical, technocratic, and market-driven, which ensures that the country’s water security is upheld. Today, Israel’s water-development technology has been used in several countries around the world to tackle their water problems. 

Singapore is one of the driest countries, but it managed to invest in research, development, and innovation to tackle this problem, which enabled its economy to flourish. Human history teaches us that water has been at the centre of the success of every economy in the world. In Africa, especially South Africa, which used modern technology to maximise its farming fortunes, water has been central to that effect. South Africa became an industrialised economy due to investment in water generation and distribution to help supply companies with the necessary resources to conduct business. 

One of the most notable challenges in South Africa’s water sector is that politicians have taken over our water facilities without the necessary technical know-how. There is mismanagement, corruption, and a shortage of skills, which are responsible for the collapse of the water-resource management in Johannesburg and elsewhere in the country. There is over-allocation of resources by the government towards the Department of Water and Sanitation, as well as municipalities with the water competency/authority. It is important to highlight that the money might be allocated, but there is hardly any value for money as it is given to comrades, family members, and friends who have been advised by the same politicians to register companies to be given those tenders while people suffer without clean water. 

The solution to the water crisis in South Africa, something other countries facing similar challenges could consider, has multiple layers. It will not come from one stakeholder. It needs to come from all players, including households, farmers, and industrialists, as well as government. We need to instil a culture of saving water and paying for essential services such as water and electricity. We need to identify and fix leaks around the country which are responsible for water wastage, amounting to a lot of money. We need to diversify our water sources, especially through desalination of seawater. We need to create a water grid which will be managed, controlled, and monitored from a national point of view, like electricity. Local municipalities are incapacitated by a lack of technical and tactical prowess, and infrastructural decay. 

• Kenneth Kgwadi is a political scientist and research fellow at the Middle East Africa Research Institute (MEARI). His Master’s thesis investigated the economic effects of water shortages on the residents of Mokgola village, North West province. He has written news articles and opinion pieces on the topic of water for several years.