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06 October 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Dr Kgosi Mocwagae explored the Qwaqwa water crisis because at a young age, he could not understand why the community in which he grew up faced so many water challenges despite a high presence of water from rivers, consistent rainfall, and streams bursting from the ground.

Dr Kgosi Mocwagae, Programme Director and Lecturer: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, received his PhD qualification during the October virtual graduation ceremonies.

His study, titled Exploring the Qwaqwa water crisis for effective planning post-apartheid, focuses on the water crisis in the Qwaqwa area, which commenced on 1 January 2016 and saw people without access to clean drinking water from their taps. The community had to turn to alternative means, such as collecting water from government-contracted water tankers, rivers, emergency hydrants, and wells.

Understanding the water crisis

Dr Mocwagae says the reason why he took up this study was because at a young age, he could not understand why the community in which he grew up faced so many water challenges despite a high presence of water from rivers, consistent rainfall, and streams bursting from the ground.
 
In this study, he aimed to explore the history of water policy in South Africa, together with the water crisis in Qwaqwa. He also documented the lived experiences of the affected Qwaqwa communities to determine the effect of not having access to clean drinking water in terms of quality of water, time, money, and distance travelled, to name just a few. 

Dr Mocwagae furthermore assessed interventions by various actors during the Qwaqwa water crisis, which included accessing water from municipally contracted water tankers, streams and rivers, rainwater harvesting, donations, paying for delivery of water, boreholes, and emergency water hydrants intended for fire breakouts. He also investigated the implications of the Qwaqwa water crisis for effective planning in post-apartheid South Africa.

He states: “Despite reports from the government that the Qwaqwa water crisis was an issue from 2015 and a result of drought, the study proved differently.” 

Water crisis due to poor planning

“Firstly, the water crisis was a cumulative effect of poor water planning since the founding of Qwaqwa as a homeland in 1974. Further to this, Qwaqwa has not been able to sufficiently provide water to the community from 1974 to date.”

Dr Mocwagae continues: “A major contributing factor to the water crisis was that the three dams in the area were still performing their primary functions as established during apartheid. Planning would have to be done to reprioritise water to Qwaqwa.

He also found that the municipality had not planned and invested in the maintenance and development of water infrastructure to provide water. 

The study was also able to demonstrate that there is a form of socialisation in planning that does not prioritise the community of Qwaqwa. In this community, more than 50% of the people live in poverty. According to Dr Mocwagae’s findings, the idea exists that the community first needs to be viewed a worthy economic contributor in order for them to benefit from water that originates from Qwaqwa. 

“Alternative means of accessing water and water-use education are also needed as part of the process of resolving the Qwaqwa water crisis,” says Dr Mocwagae. 

News Archive

UFS awarded five South African Research Chairs
2016-09-30

Description: South African Research Chairs Tags: South African Research Chairs

From left to right, Prof Maryke Labuschagne,
Prof Corli Witthuhn (Vice-Rector: Research),
Prof Hendrik Swart and Prof Felicity Burt.

The UFS was awarded five SARChI (South African Research Chairs Initiative) research chairs, the main goal of which is to promote research excellence. In addition, there has been an increase in the rating of the University’s researchers as the result of raised academic standards over the past few years, in line with the UFS’s Academic Project. As of 2016 the UFS has 127 NRF-rated researchers.

The following research chairs have been awarded to the UFS since 2013:

Prof Hendrik Swart from the Department of Physics is the research chair of Solid State Luminescent and Advanced Materials (2013-2017). Prof Swart’s research may assist in reducing vulnerability and contributing to poverty alleviation by providing affordable lighting for people in rural areas through fabricating phosphors and the development of nanophosphors.

Prof Maryke Labuschagne from the Department of Plant Sciences is the research chair of Disease Resistance and Quality in Field Crops (2016-2020). Prof Labuschagne believes that food security is one of the key factors for stability and prosperity on the continent. Her research and that of her students focuses on the genetic improvement of food security crops in Africa, including such staples as maize and cassava.

Research Chairs have been designed, to attract
and retain excellence in research and innovation
at South African universities.

Prof Melanie Walker, from the Department of Higher Education and Human Development, was awarded the research chair from 2013 to 2017. Prof Walker’s research interrogates the role of higher education in order to advance human development and justice in education and society, especially in relation to severe inequalities and poverty. Significantly, it asks what kind of societies we want, what is important in a democratic society, and thus, what kind of higher education is valuable, relevant and desirable.

Prof Felicity Burt from the Department of Medical Microbiology was recently awarded the research chair from 2016 to 2020, to investigate medically significant vector-borne and zoonotic viruses currently; to define associations between these viruses and specific disease manifestations that have previously not been described in our region, to increase awareness of these pathogens; to further our understanding of host immune responses, which should facilitate development of novel treatments or vaccines and drug discovery.

The Humanities without Borders: Trauma, History and Memory research chair was awarded from 2016 to 2020. The Institute for Social Justice and Reconciliation will use this research chair to investigate historical trauma within two African contexts – those of South Africa and Rwanda. The research hopes to bring insight into the role that memory plays in the formation of the experience of trauma, and to bring about healing of the trauma.

Research Chairs have been designed by the Department of Science and Technology, together with the National Research Foundation, to attract and retain excellence in research and innovation at South African public universities.

 

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