The Politics Behind Water

South Africa battles water scarcity as it is one of the thirty driest regions in the world. On average the country receives 500 mm rainfall in a year. [1] As water is a limited resource, governments in the past have allocated it to specific groups. In 2002 there were still 14 million Black South Africans without running water as previous laws made it difficult to access natural resources.[2]

The Union of South Africa implemented the Irrigation and Conservation of Water Act, No. 8 of 1912.[3] This law primarily gave water to farming communities for agricultural production.[4] The government gave specific people riparian water rights to limit the access to water.[5] Riparian rights refers to the practice of giving land owners living close to rivers priority when allocating water.[6] A year after the Irrigation and Conservation of Water Act was implemented, the 1913 Land Act was introduced, which restricted black South Africans from owning land.[7] This enabled the Union of South Africa to take away both land and water from Black South Africans. As the amount of poor whites in South Africa was also growing, the government had to solve the rising unemployment among white South Africans. They started implementing irrigation schemes as a solution. These irrigation schemes entailed the construction of water storage dams near areas where erosion was occurring. [8] Theirrigation schemes implemented were expensive and generally did not make a profit.[9]These irrigation schemes uplifted poor whites at the cost of black South Africans, as they were given land and access to water while these schemes were not implemented for black South Africans. Examples of these schemes include Hartbeespoort Dam Irrigation Scheme of 1915 to 1925 and the Vaalharts scheme of 1933 to 1938.[10]

The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 was implemented eight years after the National Party (NP) came into power at the start of Apartheid.[11] This change in legislation was caused by the National Party wanting to use water for industrial development rather than agriculture.[12] As white South Africans were moving to urban centers the National Party hoped to stop Africans moving to the cities through starting irrigation schemes in African Reserves. [13] Even though black South Africans received more water for agriculture, the government still held a firm grip on how water was used and allocated. [14] On the other hand, Africans who moved to the cities during the 1940’s did not receive enough water. World War 2 caused a disruption with the social welfare services, which caused the construction of African housing to standstill. [15] By 1944 many urban African workers became squatters, who were forced to live in unsanitary conditions. The municipality and the government tried to provide sanitation and water in townships, but the increase in illegal squatters made it impossible. This led to many Africans drinking polluted water from wells.[16] This continued till 1956 as townships did not receive necessary services or infrastructure as the authorities knew they could not afford it.[17] Many Africans started living in unsanitary conditions without proper waste removal.[18]

These circumstances caused the African National Congress (ANC) to implement a new water policy after 1994 when South Africa became a democracy. They established the 1998 National Water Act which stated that water was a common asset.[19] This legislation focuses on the decentralization of water and tries to undo the wrongs of the past.[20]

End notes:

[1]Perret, S.R. “Water Policies and Smallholding Irrigation Schemes in South Africa: A History and New Institutional Challenges, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2002, 3 ↵

[2Perret, S.R. “Water Policies and Smallholding Irrigation Schemes in South Africa: A History and New Institutional Challenges, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2002, 5 ↵

[3]Tempelhoff, J.“The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190. ↵

[4]Tempelhoff, J.“The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190. ↵

[5]Dollar, E.S.J.., Nicolson, C.R., Brown, C.A., Turpieet al., “Development of the South African Water Resource Classification System (WRCS): a tool towards the sustainable, equitable and efficient use of water resources in a developing country”, Water Policy, 2010, (Vol. 12), (No.4),480. ↵

[6]Dollar, E.S.J.., Nicolson, C.R., Brown, C.A., Turpieet al., “Development of the South African Water Resource Classification System (WRCS): a tool towards the sustainable, equitable and efficient use of water resources in a developing country”, Water Policy, 2010, (Vol. 12), (No.4),480. ↵

[7]Dollar, E.S.J.., Nicolson, C.R., Brown, C.A., Turpieet al., “Development of the South African Water Resource Classification System (WRCS): a tool towards the sustainable, equitable and efficient use of water resources in a developing country”, Water Policy, 2010, (Vol. 12), (No.4),480. ↵

[8]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 200. ↵

[9]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 200. ↵

[10]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[11]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[12]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[13]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[14]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[15]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[16]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[17]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[18]Tempelhoff, J. “The Water Act, No. 54 of 1956 and the first phase of apartheid in South Africa”, Water History, 2017 (Vol.9), (No.2), 190 ↵

[19]Perret, S.R. “Water Policies and Smallholding Irrigation Schemes in South Africa: A History and New Institutional Challenges, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2002, 9. ↵

[20]Dollar, E.S.J.., Nicolson, C.R., Brown, C.A., Turpieet al., “Development of the South African Water Resource Classification System (WRCS): a tool towards the sustainable, equitable and efficient use of water resources in a developing country”, Water Policy, 2010, (Vol. 12), (No.4), 482. ↵