Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 06-02-2018
A Senior Researcher from the African Futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies has told Radio Islam South Africa is running out of water.
The organisation says while the water shortages problem is most immediate in Cape Town, the country has been overexploiting its national water system for years, the consequences of which are becoming obvious and harder and costlier to fix.
It says even if all government strategies are implemented, SA’s demand for water will still outstrip supply.
Senior Researcher at African Futures and Innovation Zachary Donnenfeld says, there are number issues that have contributed to the water crisis.
Donnenfeld says 90% of non-revenue water is lost through poor physical infrastructure, the failure to manage demand of the precious resource and politicizing the issue.
“Even on the individual level, the average South African consumes more water then the global average. There’s just not a culture of water conservation here, so I think even individual residents could do better to conserve water and promote a more sustainable South African future.”
He says Cape Town may not be able to avoid “Day Zero”, the day the taps run dry.
“The rainfall in Cape Town is seasonal, so if Cape Town doesn’t run out of water this year, they are going to be in a similar position next year.”
Donnenfeld says South Africans need to see the current water crisis as an opportunity to implement long term solutions the country needs to avoid running into this problem in Cape Town and across the country.
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