Good governance vital for SA’s water security in a shifting future
Business, citizens and the government need to work together to ensure a more efficient and well-regulated use of this increasingly precious resource
The lush Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe are a paradise of gurgling, pure streams and fountains – the stuff a Karoo farmer’s dreams are made of. And yet my visit there in the early 2000s, a decade after the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and the overthrow of the Romanian communist regime, revealed a shard of hell embedded in a failing state. The formerly powerful were generally the "newly" powerful, with a new mode of private enterprise. Romanian "security services" armed with Kalashnikovs and Carpathian shepherd dogs stood guard at the mouths of deep springs in the limestone karst. This water source had been privatised — bottled and exported, off-limits to the locals who for generations had access to a plentiful supply. In recent months in SA, minds have been focused on water scarcity during the drought that affected large parts of the country. And while the Vaal Dam may be overflowing, the Western Cape still has one eye on its dam supply. But we are paying less attention to...
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