Protecting the country's strategic water source areas is the first step towards a water-secure South Africa.
South Africa is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with an average of only 450mm of rainfall per year. Additionally, only 8% of our country’s land area provides more than 50% of our surface water.
To add to these challenges, South Africa is currently experiencing its worst drought since 1992, affecting food production in some of the country’s critical farming regions. The drought has also affected water quality in some areas because of weaker water flow.
Ultimately, partnerships — within the private sector and between the public sector and nongovernmental organisations — are required in order to address the country’s various water challenges. The rationale behind Sanlam’s partnerships with WWF South Africa, which started 10 years ago, is easy to appreciate in this context.
To date, Sanlam has committed R30-million to the partnership, and is now extending this relationship for another three years, committing another R20-million. Sanlam’s investment is ploughed into securing South Africa’s water source areas, promoting water stewardship, and empowering local government to integrate freshwater production into plans. The partnership with WWF has already achieved a number of successful interventions in the marine and freshwater conservation landscape.
More recently the partnership has developed two new freshwater initiatives — the WWF Water Source Areas Programme and the WWF Water Stewardship Programme. The Warer Source Areas Programme will focus on protecting the 8% of South Africa’s land area that provides more than half of our water flow. The Water Stewardship Programme will work with companies along the food supply chain to enable better production and water security at a catchment level.
One of the most successful achievments of the WWF-Sanlam partnership is the Journey of Water campaign, which kicked off in 2013 with the aim of reconnecting urban South African to the real source of our water — nature.
From an investment perspective, more and more investors are taking environmental risks into consideration in the policy decision-making. To better understand how water risk impacts company share value, and how asset owners can drive better practice for water security, WWF and Sanlam are working together to evaluate the water risk of the top 40 JSE-listed companies. Another example of how partnerships are driving solutions to the problem.
Santam, Sanlam’s short-term insurance company, was the first to recognise the impact that drought and flood events are having on underwriting performance. The insurer has undertaken exploratory research with WWF South Africa, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Rsearch (CSIR) and the University of Cape Town to understand both the systemic drivers of this emerging risk and potential response strategies, within the context of the unique demands and challenges of local government and climate change.
Sanlam also announced earlier this year that it would join the WWF Water Balance Programme, which involves a group of forward-thinking South African corporates investing directly in the health of priority catchments. Sanlam’s participation will be aimed at improving the health of Pongola’s catchment through the clearing of alien invasive plants and rehabilitating dongas. This project will directly benefit Ndlamanze, a rural community with a 94% unemployment rate, through increased water flow and job opportunities.
“At Wealsmiths, Sanlam’s vision is to be a leader in wealth creation and protetion. This includes natural wealth such as water. Warer links us all and every part of our economy is dependent on it. We hope that going forward, more corporates will take the lead and engage in our national water dialogue to improve water security for the South Africa economy to the benefit of all our citizens,” Francois Adriaan, Sanlam: Head Group Corporate Affairs, concluded.