Photo by: Duane Daws
Being the thirtieth-driest country in the world, facing the most severe drought in decades and grappling with water shortages across the board, South Africa faced a one-billion-plus cubic-metre deficit by 2030 if water consumption was not curbed urgently.
South Africans currently consumed water well above global averages, coming in at 235 l/d per person, compared with the global average of 177 l/d per person, Water Research Commission CEO Dhesigen Naidoo said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Vision 2030 Summit, he explained that this trend would see the water-strapped country deplete the expected two-billion cubic metre water addition from currently planned dams and schemes back to a shortage in the next 15 years.
He stressed that South Africans were “wasteful” with the country’s water resources.
Water shortages formed part of the top five economic risks globally, with local challenges set to hit the economy hard, as shortages would have a ripple effect across industry, agriculture and mining, besides others.
However, without a step-change improvement in water resource management, it would be increasingly difficult to meet related resource challenges, such as providing sufficient food or sustainably generating electricity, said Mega Water CEO Rudy Roberts.
“We need to incorporate a holistic view into conversations,” he added, pointing out that, while the water challenges faced made up one of the key pillars addressed by the National Development Plan (NDP), water infrastructure in its entirety needed to dovetail with the development strategy.
The scarce resource had to be managed more efficiently, with improved dialogue required on the way forward, looking at solutions differently and incorporating technical and technological solutions and policies, along with investment options.
Meanwhile, while South Africa had its own significant water challenges, which were weighing heavily on economic growth, the country needed to incorporate “the African discussion” into its plans moving forward, Roberts stated.
With around 38%, or some 380-million of Africa’s one-billion-strong population without access to clean water, South Africa’s own NDP cannot tackle water infrastructure development as a one-country project.
Africa as a region was positioned in one of the driest places in the world, with the recent El Nino phenomenon and subsequent droughts also hitting South Africa’s neighbours and fellow African countries hard, threatening food security on a continent already grappling with economic challenges.