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22 April 2025 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Tafadzwa Maramura
Dr Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura is a Senior Lecturer and NRF-Rated Researcher in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the UFS.

With roughly half the world’s population experiencing severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, according to the UN World Water Development Report 2024, a researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS) seeks to understand how South Africa and the rest of the African continent can ensure that every person has access to water.

Besides Dr Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura, Senior Lecturer and NRF-Rated Researcher in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the UFS, research focusing on service delivery, especially delivery of water to the most vulnerable and poorest households, her work also focuses on the water-health nexus. In February she was appointed the Secretary for the Institutional Governance and Regulations Framework – a sub-specialist group for the International Water Association (IWA), becoming the first black African female to be appointed to this position.

According to statistics quoted by Greenpeace, 5.52 billion people out of a population of 7.78 billion in 186 countries face water insecurity, of which, 1.34 billion are Africans, accounting for more than 90% of the continent’s population. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2024: water for prosperity and peace; facts, figures, and action examples state that as of 2022, 2.2 billion people were without access to safely managed drinking water.

 

Research focus

With this, and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – especially Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) – in mind, Dr Maramura seeks to understand how South Africa and the rest of Africa can ensure that everyone gets access to this particular resource. “My research focuses on water governance and sustainable service delivery, public policies, and the green economy in the African, as well as the South African, context. What I found is interesting and really saddening at the same time. When you break it down, you realise that one in every three people in Africa don’t have access to potable water.

“Water is a basic human right, you can survive without electricity and other luxuries, but not without water. Each time you brush your teeth or flush your toilet with at least 15 litres of clean water or you are watering your garden with clean water, there are people that actually don’t have access to basic drinking water,” says Dr Maramura.

She is also investigating what the government is doing to ensure it delivers on this service it is mandated to, as South Africa has all the policies in place, and the best constitution in the world, but still the poor and most vulnerable communities do not have water.

“Access to clean water is not just a basic need; it is a matter of dignity, equality, and survival. As a young African woman, through my research, I see first-hand how the burden of water scarcity falls disproportionately on women and girls, robbing us as women, of education, economic opportunities, and health.

“But we are not just victims – we are leaders in this fight. By empowering women and investing in sustainable water solutions, we can transform our communities and break the cycle of poverty. The time for action is now because water is life, and every African deserves it.”

 

The water-health nexus

Dr Maramura has book chapters coming out in June this year that focus on the water-health nexus in failed states, thereby merging SDG 3 and 6 on health and water respectively. Water plays an indispensable role in the world as it is important for accomplishing several other SDGs, such as zero hunger, poverty eradication, good health and well-being, and affordable and clean energy. It all depends on the achievement of goal 6.

Says Dr Maramura: “You cannot solve problems in isolation; you cannot look at the water problem in isolation. If you have a water problem, you have a health and education problem because kids can’t go to school if there is no water. Hospitals can’t function when there is no water.

“SDG 3 speaks to health and SDG 6 speaks to water and that is where the nexus is, nexus meaning connection between water and health. How can we ensure that we merge the two together and ensure researchers working on health and water can find common ground to address any challenges arising from the lack of water so that we don’t have these health issues?”

South Africa is an upper-middle-income country but still struggles to deliver potable water to everyone and many communities in the country still rely on ventilated pit latrines due to limited access to modern sanitation facilities. With the deadline for achieving the 17 SDGs only five years away, South Africa is at risk of failing to achieve the SDGs.

 

Solving the water problems

According to Dr Maramura, there is no magic wand that can be used to solve all the country's water problems, but a collaborative and comprehensive effort is needed. “There is work that needs to be done. The government, private sector, the communities, as well as other role players need to work together. South Africa is a water-stressed country with rainfall below the global average. We realised that we have scarce groundwater resources.

“The community needs to understand, participate, and be aware of how much damage we can do by just drilling boreholes and digging wells. The private sector needs to know what it is that they can do to ensure that they also play a part through their corporate social responsibility and philanthropic dimensions in assisting the community.”

From the government side, she says, the policies are there so the government needs to consult with the communities, the private sector, and all other relevant stakeholders. They need to involve affected communities and after consultations, they need to engage these communities because they understand their problem best.

News Archive

Course on sustainable development recognised at COP 17
2011-12-07

 

Some participants of the PED Nexus Programme during a field trip are from left: Jacques van Zuydam, Chief Director: Population and Development at the national  Department of Social Development; Prof. André Pelser, course coordinator (UFS); Prof. Sosten Chiotha, Director, LEAD Southern and Eastern Africa; and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, course facilitator (UFS).

The University of the Free State (UFS) received a nod of approval at the COP 17 Climate Change Conference in Durban for a short course it presents in partnership with the Chief Directorate Population and Development, United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), LEAD International and SANParks.

The UFS received an honourable mention in a press release from the Department of Social Development for the short course entitled ‘Leadership Training in Sustainable Development: The Population, Environment and Development (PED) Nexus’. The release was issued as part of COP17. It mentions that the course is recognised in a publication of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as one of ten innovative experiences and best practices in population and development in the developing world.
 
Prof. André Pelser, UFS Professor in Sociology, says the university played a key role in the development and implementation of the course. The UFS has been presenting the course since its inception in 2005.   Similar courses under the banner of the PED Nexus, although in a totally different format, are also presented at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of Cape Town. A total of 21 courses have been presented nationwide since 2005, of which the UFS has hosted eight. More than 230 participants from all over the world have been trained in these eight short nine-day courses.
 
The PED Nexus Programme focuses on the interrelationships of population, environment and development and its significance for sustainable human development and is closely linked to the implementation of the national Population Policy for South Africa. The press release reads that the programme is implemented in the form of short courses that target professionals and managers in governments at all levels as well as non-governmental agencies responsible for the implementation of programmes related to sustainable development.
 
Prof. Pelser and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, also from the Department of Sociology, have recently been tasked by the National Department of Social Development to upgrade the course outline.  The next course will run from 17-25 April 2012. As in the case of pervious courses, the first six days will be hosted on our main Campus in Bloemfontein, whereafter course participants and their facilitators depart to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park for the practical part of the course. 

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