RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Taps are running dry — and we are all to blame
Water supply needs to become a substantive item on corporate boards' agendas, writes Mike Muller
Dry taps in two Southern African cities tell a worrying story about the failure of public officials to take a long-term view of water supply. But is it their fault alone? Or are citizens failing to hold them to account? And why is the business community, whose board agendas always include a risk-management item, not playing a more active role? Many Capetonians just can’t wait for winter to arrive this year. It’s not just to get rid of the Gauteng tourists (although more and more summer visitors are escaping from a miserable Europe to take advantage of, for them, our low prices). Indeed, what’s wanted are more black southeasters. That’s not migrants from the Eastern Cape but the winds that, if accompanied by a stray low-pressure pattern, would bring some rain and fill the dams. Told that there is less than 100 days of water in their dams, the locals can be forgiven for worrying. However, they have made their (dry dam) bed and must now lie in it. This year’s "crisis" has been predicte...
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