WESTERN CAPE DROUGHT
MAGDA WIERZYCKA: Dry words too late in a too-dire water crisis
We have all watched with great optimism the new commitment of the ANC to rebuilding SA since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as party president. He has not disappointed, tackling corruption, financial mismanagement of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), state capture and the absurdity of procuring nuclear energy with lightning speed. However, there is another looming disaster that has the potential to generate more negative headlines about SA than we have seen before, bring the economy of the Western Cape to its knees, affect tourism for years to come, destroy jobs and ultimately cause disease and death. The Cape Town water crisis is a case study for how to mismanage a world-class city. Instead of solutions we have consistently had blame-shifting and contradictory messages from the politicians in charge. Here are some of the facts: the city is expected to officially run out of water on April 12, although the maths involved in calculating the date remain sketchy. When that happens, the t...
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