The Western Cape is just one dry winter away from drought — and earlier this year the weather service predicted below-normal rainfall this season. While predictions can change, it is a warning.
But it’s not all doom and gloom; provincial officials say they are better prepared this time around, thanks to lessons learnt from Cape Town’s devastating 2016-2018 drought, when the spectre of “Day Zero” loomed large.
According to Wesgro, the province’s tourism, trade and investment agency, that drought led to an estimated loss of R15bn in revenue. Local government MEC Anton Bredell says the crisis brought a greater understanding of water challenges and, in 2022, a 15-year water plan was developed.
“The drought helped us to understand that, in the long run, we’re in trouble. Climate change is real, and if we’re not going to change the way we do things, we’re never going to get ahead of the curve,” Bredell tells the FM.
The executive summary of the water plan states: “Water security and climate resilience are key concerns for municipalities, farmers and industries, especially in light of the growth in population numbers and the economy.” It recommends diversifying water resources and points out potential solutions, such as minimising water losses, enhancing metering and billing, and reducing consumption.
Bredell is glad climate change is finally on the agenda because some “world leaders will tell you it’s not serious”.
When a drought comes, he says, quick action is needed. One approach is to introduce a water tariff. “The quickest way is to touch somebody’s pocket — they will change their behaviour.”
The next step is a marketing campaign that includes visiting the biggest water users. “The big success was that from 2016 to 2017 water usage was 1.2-billion litres a day, and within a short time, [that dropped] to 580-million litres. People are still in that frame of mind.”
While the drought in Cape Town attracted international media attention, the Karoo was grappling with its own prolonged crisis. “There were pockets of droughts and we as a department had to manage that. Many people lost [their jobs] in Kannaland. Farmers had to close their farms,” he says.
Water, he says, is critical because it’s about food security. “The next drought is one dry winter away. That’s it, then we’re in trouble. Having an understanding of the broader picture, we said we can keep on running and trying to fix the problems, or we must have a longer-term view and say: ‘How are we going to get ahead of this curve within the next 15 years?’
“Climate change is serious, it’s going to hit the whole world. [European countries] look at what happened in the Western Cape and how they can learn from it. If we don’t plan for the future, we’re not going to get ahead of the backlog in infrastructure.”
For this financial year, about R32m has been allocated for water infrastructure across the province’s municipalities. Projects include replacing old pipes in Oudtshoorn at a cost of about R3.2m, a new 3.5-million-litre reservoir in Citrusdal (R2.5m) and rerouting a pipe bridge, including the construction of new manholes and the rerouting of a sewer pipe, in Knysna (R2.5m).
Knysna’s problem is not a money problem. It’s not a resource problem. It’s a leadership and management problem
— Anton Bredell
The Western Cape trains officials to teach municipal managers how to plan budgets around these issues. Citing Knysna as an example, Bredell says unstable coalitions can be a hindrance to long-term planning. The town recently went weeks without water.
“Knysna’s problem is not a money problem. It’s not a resource problem. It’s a leadership and management problem. Coalition politics is something new to us as a government and it comes with huge frustration because what you need in a council is stability,” he says.
The province is also working with CapeNature to clear alien invasive trees in low-lying areas and on mountain ranges. “If you don’t attack it at the top, those seeds will come down,” says Bredell.
Meanwhile, Cape Town is exploring the feasibility of desalinated drinking water, despite criticism of this move at public meetings this year.
Another round of public participation is planned before the submission of the feasibility study report to the council, due later this year. It is expected that the city council will decide on the appropriate delivery mechanism by year-end.
Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for water & sanitation, says: “Water security is … a responsibility we carry to provide for the generations to come. All input on the options being reviewed for how best to finance, operate and implement desalination will be considered.”
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