The power-supply crisis and looming fresh-water shortage are early warning signs that South Africa needs to curb use of natural resources, global wildlife fund WWF said on Wednesday.
”South Africa has a narrowing time window in which to act decisively to prevent critical resource shortages that could dash our hopes of sustained economic growth,” said South African WWF chief executive for nature Dr Morné du Plessis.
He was speaking at the Delta Park environmental centre in Johannesburg.
”Imagine if we had to hold our leaders accountable in 50 years for the decisions that they make, or don’t make, now.
”This is what will in effect be the lifecycle over which any new coal-fired power station will be pumping obscene quantities of carbon into the air.”
Du Plessis said few politicians were willing to make tough choices that would benefit an unborn electorate.
Efforts to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans lived in harmony with nature would only succeed if jointly undertaken by civil society, lawmakers and, above all, by consumers, he added.
”We have an excellent, progressive Constitution, but unless we start taking our environmental stewardship obligations seriously we risk many of our citizens being unable to have access to those rights, because of the rate at which our natural resources are being consumed.”
The public had blindly trusted the powers that be and now that trust had been broken.
”Healthy people live in healthy environments. It is time that we as a society become more demanding of the way in which we make those critical decisions upon which our children will reflect.”
No crisis
This week, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said that South Africa is not facing a water crisis.
The department was responding to media reports on the weekend, citing a National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) report that suggested serious problems with the country’s water supply, including radioactive contamination, unsafe dams and waste spills.
”The Sunday Times on February 3 2008 presents a gloomy picture of the state of water in South Africa and says that we are facing a water crisis similar to that of electricity.
”Fortunately we are not,” said Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks.
She said while the article raised various concerns, it did not ”outline all the measures and responses taken by my department to address these issues”.
The article said 43% of dams managed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry had safety problems and needed urgent repair.
Hendricks said she had already outlined in Parliament ”a comprehensive assessment of what needs to be done, where it needs to be done and the extensive budget that has been allocated to addressing the infrastructure needs of the dams”. — Sapa