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South Africa is facing increasing water stress due to a variety of factors.

South Africa, like the rest of Africa, is facing increasing water stress due to a variety of factors, including inadequate maintenance and investment in water and sanitation infrastructure, unequal access to water, poor water quality, and increasingly unsustainable water demand. Flooding and drought disasters and disruptions in water and sanitation services have become more frequent in recent years amidst a growing population in a semi-arid country.

In addition to the ongoing load shedding crisis we are facing, South Africa is rapidly approaching a situation where “water shedding” is becoming a tangible issue. Although it hasn’t reached a nationwide scale yet, the occurrence of disruptions in water supply systems due to shortages and a combination of other factors is growing significantly.

This situation is detrimental, not only to South Africa’s developmental goals but also to its socio-economic position within the Southern African development community region and the continent as a whole.

This is according to academics from the University of the Free State (UFS) and the University of Pretoria (UP) who were part of a group of academics and industry experts who did an independent assessment of Operation Vulindlela’s impact on South Africa. Pres Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled Operation Vulindlela – a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury that aims to modernise and transform network industries – in 2020 as the vehicle to “fast-track the delivery of economic reforms”.

Prof Paul Oberholster, Director of the UFS Centre for Environmental Management and an expert in wastewater treatment, and Dr Yolandi Schoeman, his Postdoctoral Fellow, together with Prof Emma Archer, Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Pretoria were asked by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to focus on water.

Bring about the structural change

RMB states in the report that it commissioned a body of work by academics and industry experts to independently evaluate whether the execution of policy initiatives set out by Operation Vulindlela, would bring about the structural change that is necessary to accelerate SA’s growth and employment. The subsequent parts of this report focus on three of the five network industries identified by Operation Vulindlela – electricity, water and transport (ports and rail).

“It was an honour to have been part of this project with RMB and to unpack and strategically assess the water sector in South Africa. We know that there are plenty of challenges, but there are also remarkable opportunities where we can implement solutions and demonstrate impact, bring about change and work hard in turning the situation around as a joint constructive collaborative approach.

“They are very keen on working with leaders in the water space with qualities of strategic thinking, innovation, collaboration, inclusivity, and a strong commitment to sustainable development. It is an impactful contribution indeed,” says Prof Oberholster.

In their sections of the report, under heading South Africa's Blue Revolution: Investing in a thriving water future South Africa, Prof Oberholster, Dr Schoeman and Prof Archer, focused on five themes, namely Water for planetary health, Water for development, Water for climate, resilience and the environment, Water for cooperation and The Water Decade of Action.

“We were asked to evaluate the viability of what is still left to be done in the water sector in South Africa. We were asked to contribute our thinking to the RMB handbook for the purpose of distribution to corporate and institutional clients. As part of our outcome we provided clear and unbiased direction to RMB’s clients on the joint initiative the likely impact of Operation Vulindlela on economic growth and what still needs to be done to turn the water sector around,” according to Prof Oberholster.

Guidelines to improve the country’s water situation

He says their aim was to give guidelines on how to improve the country’s water situation. He believes the work they have done with this assessment and on other occasions, will help the UFS in its goal to be a university that impactfully supports societal development as set out in Vision 130, which states: Our knowledge will continue to contribute to the development of the Free State, South Africa, and the African continent and to advance global knowledge and understanding.

As clean water and sanitation is Goal 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is a further indication of the importance of this research and work.

According to Dr Schoeman, reports like these are important because they help raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities for achieving water security and sustainable development. They identify problems and bottlenecks within the industry, helping to target areas that require immediate attention and action. They provide potential solutions and enable dialogue to the problems identified, giving stakeholders a roadmap for action and providing essential background that can enable investment and further inform investment priorities.

“Such reports help to inform planning and decision-making processes by providing data, evidence, and recommendations based on research and analysis.  They encourage collaboration and coordination among stakeholders by providing a common understanding of the issues and potential solutions.

“They also provide guidance and recommendations for decision-makers to improve water resources management and governance. Water is a vital resource for human health, food security, energy production, environmental protection and more, so it is essential to recognise its worth and incorporate it into planning and policies,” says Dr Schoeman.

Blue Revolution

The academics also talks about the Blue Revolution – essential blue solutions – in supporting Operation Vulindlela which can enable a sustainable future for South Africa's water management system. The Blue Revolution in South Africa, write the academics, refers to a comprehensive strategy and functional implementation for modernising and transforming the country’s water sector. It aims to improve water management practices and enhance the water sector’s overall efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability in enabling planetary health.

News Archive

Migration is a developmental issue - experts
2010-06-01

Pictured from the left, front, are: D. Juma, Mr Williams and Prof. Hussein Solomon (University of Pretoria); back: Prof. Bekker, Prof. Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities, UFS) and Dr Wa Kabwe-Segatti.
Photo: Stephen Collett


“Migration offers more opportunities for economic growth than constraints. It is an integral part of the processes of globalisation and regional integration.”

This was a view shared by one of the speakers, Dr Monica Juma from the Africa Institute of South Africa, during a panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) last week as part of the celebrations of Africa Day on 25 May 2010.

The discussion was premised on the theme, Migration and Africa: From Analysis to Action.

Dr Juma said migrants could be assets for host countries or cities because of their resourcefulness. She said they brought along essential skills that could contribute immensely to the economic development of their host countries or cities.

“Governments are beginning to see migration as a tool for development and working together in developing immigration policies,” concurred another speaker, Mr Vincent Williams from the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA).

He said, if managed properly, migration could yield positive results. He said effective management of migration should start at local and provincial levels.
And for this to happen, he said, the current immigration laws should be amended as he felt they were no longer relevant, because they were based on what countries wanted to achieve in the past.

“Reform national immigration legislation to encourage permanent settlement and improve service delivery mechanisms and bureaucracy to match population movements,” Dr Aurelia Kazadi Wa Kabwe-Segatti, from the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand recommended.

However, Mr Williams pointed out that policy convergence was a difficult thing to achieve as migration was a politically sensitive issue. He said decisions that countries made on migration could have a negative or a positive bearing on their relations with one another.

Dr Juma also raised the issue of unskilled migrants which, she said, could be a burden to governments. This was reflected in the current South African situation where foreigners offered cheap labour and thus rendered South Africans who demanded higher salaries unemployable. This was a contributory factor to the xenophobic attacks of 2008. What was essentially a labour problem then manifested itself as a migration problem.

Prof. Simon Bekker from the University of Stellenbosch said South Africa was still losing a significant number of skilled professionals to Europe and North America due to an assumption that spatial mobility led to social or economic mobility.

He also suggested that the government should not restrict internal migration but should address the problem of migration across the borders into South Africa.

Senior Professor at the CAS, Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo, said while the discussion covered a broad scope, there were some gaps that still needed to be filled in order for an all-inclusive view to prevail. One such gap, he said, was to also accord indigenous traditional institutions of governance space in such deliberations and not base discussions on this issue only on the Western way of thinking.

Africa Day is the day on which Africa observes the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963, to promote the unity and solidarity of African states and act as a collective voice for the African continent; to secure Africa’s long-term economic and political future; and to rid the continent of all remaining forms of colonialism. The OAU was formally replaced by the African Union in July 2002.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
1 June 2010
 

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