Collaboration is key to water security. Without it, equitable access to water in South Africa – and globally – remains out of reach.
“Every issue we face, water is at the heart of it,” says Deputy Minister for Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo. Water is the most basic and fundamental human right, underpinning the right life, and access to it is no longer a question of ‘how,’ but ‘why not?’
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) reports that around 3.5 million poor people lack access to water and 16 million lack adequate sanitation, the deputy minister comments, “The goal of our department, and the goals of the private sector converge on the water issue. We all understand water, its importance and the urgency required to get it right. We need to have open discussions and collaborations with each other if we are to realise our goals.”
Paths to water security
The deputy minister, speaking at Enlit Africa, explains that South Africa has many options, including:
- Desalination: South Africa’s coastlines are “perfect contenders” for desalination. As desalination technology develops South Africa cannot afford to lag. Cape Town’s day zero showed that developed cities can run out of water, and desalination is a candidate for water security along its coastlines.
- Water reuse: treating wastewater for other applications and even drinking reuse is not just feasible, it would be impractical not to consider. The deputy says, “The waste sector always says waste is wealth, well, we should adopt this, it is not wastewater but wealth water.” The circular possibilities of wastewater reuse are abundant, from fertiliser as a by-product, to drastically lowering water consumption through smart reuse.
- Natural sources: The deputy minister highlights groundwater and run off as potential sources of water. He notes that, “while South Africa captures run off, around 29%, there is space to grow for the sake of water security.”
- Atmospheric capturing: Using atmospheric water capture technology is already being used across the world. Deputy minister adds, “From small scale capturing to large scale. There are 13 trillion tonnes of water in the atmosphere. We need to really consider it.”
Obstacles
The minister spotlights the increasingly hostile geopolitical space as a main deterrent to realising global water security.
“While South Africa can look to itself for solutions, water is by its nature a global resource that requires collaboration. If we did not collaborate with Lesotho we would have issues with Gauteng’s water supply. Water passes through borders, and skips places, and the rise of protectionism as well as the major global conflicts mean that resources directed to water are being directed to warfare.”
Deputy Minister Mahlobo concludes saying, “The public sector, the private sector, and the communities we serve must collaborate, water is a right, not something to argue over.”
