It has always been a great blemish on democratic South Africa that many of her people are denied the basic right to clean water.
Over the years, the Mail & Guardian has visited several areas where people are bereft of the amenities most of us take for granted. In these places a flowing tap is a luxury too far, necessitating that people sometimes walk for hours to fetch water to drink, cook or bathe with. Their experiences are unfathomable to the city dweller. As just one example, in August we ran an article about Limpopo residents who have to confront crocodiles just to fill up their buckets.
But, the gross inequality notwithstanding, our country has found stability in the clean, consistent supply to urban areas. The tap water in our major cities is — usually without pause for thought — happily imbibed. Such is water’s ubiquity that many a Joburger and Capetonian see it as a political statement not to buy bottled water.
Our recent reporting, not to mention the Gauteng crisis staring at us all, makes us worry about that certainty. The trajectory we are on threatens to further divide South Africa along lines of access to the compound that is most critical to our existence.
Aarti Bhana writes about the rise of bottled water and refilling stations. With that comes an increase in harmful single-use plastics and suppliers that misrepresent what they sell. More importantly, the necessity for temporary measures is the knife that will slice open existing divisions.
We saw it during the electricity crisis. The wealthy were able to implement measures — solar panels, inverters — that were inaccessible to most people.
Water now faces the same danger as it is hoarded in expensive tanks in rich suburbs. And if history has taught us anything, it is that inequality of opportunity compounds upon itself — our differences will only worsen.
Sheree Bega also reports on the accusation that the department of water and sanitation has “dropped the ball” by not ensuring the Drop reports were released on time.
This is a critical failing. We rely on the systems and institutions around water to ensure its equitable distribution. If they are not able to adequately diagnose the problem, we have no hope of it being remedied.
This is not the first or the last editorial we’ll write on our country’s resource disparities. We’re driven by the hope that one day the rural areas we visit will have running taps like our own Joburg offices. But that hope will become a delusion if our society is stratified any further.