Interview - South Africa is currently facing significant water and sanitation challenges that have persisted for many years. These challenges are complex and they have social, economic, and environmental implications.
South Africa is currently facing significant water and sanitation challenges that have persisted for many years. These challenges are complex and they have social, economic, and environmental implications. The government and various stakeholders are working round the clock to address these challenges through initiatives that aim to improve infrastructure, provide equitable access to clean water and sanitation, and promote sustainable water resource management.
We therefore need to consider and accept the country's freshwater realities to know what needs to be addressed, prioritise and implement interventions according to the scale and magnitude of identified pending water crises.
Increased climate variability will place increased and additional pressure on South Africa's already stressed water resources. The projected increase in rainfall variability as well as reduction of average rainfall , increase in extreme weather events such as floods and prolonged droughts, will place increased pressure on its water resources in terms of quantity and quality.
Climate change will be accompanied by the intensification of water scarcity through changing rainfall patterns and increasing water demand by all major water use sectors. The accompanied extreme weather events, like floods and prolonged droughts, will also have the potential to damage vital water and sanitation infrastructure as well as services in homes, healthcare facilities and food supplies.
Long-term data trends as well as numerous evident water quality case studies across the country clearly show that South Africa's rivers and dams have significantly deteriorated over the past two to three decades, in some instances, posing serious human health risks, degradation of the environment and even destruction of sensitive aquatic ecosystems.
The Vaal River has been reported to be"polluted beyond acceptable levels" by the South African Human Rights Commission, significantly affecting the environment and endangering people's health.
The Department of Water and Sanitation have developed and announced a wide variety of initiatives and strategies to try and address current pertinent water issues as well as the SDGs. These strategies can be found on their website.
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