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Only a collective response will ensure water security and the per person use to a below a 170-litre future

How behavioural ‘nudges’ can help people reduce water use, particularly in Johannesburg

Only a collective response will ensure water security and the per person use to a below a 170-litre future

Farmer Takesure Chimbu combs through dry stover, salvaged from a failed maize crop which he hopes to save and feed to his livestock, which will have minimal pastures this year because of the El-Nino induced drought, in Mudzi on July 2, 2024. (NJIKIZANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Drought leaves Zimbabwe’s Kapotesa dam dry, villagers struggle for survival

In the Mudzi district, cases of malnutrition have increased by 20 percent over the past three months

Shower hour: Water has become a dirty joke

The trials of living a life around the capricious temperament of water scheduling

Crisis averted: A sign in a restroom helped promote the use of waterless hand sanitizer in Cape Town in 2018, during the worst drought on record
in the region after years of low rainfall. Authorities named 11 May as the infamous “Day Zero” when water would run out if reservoir levels kept
falling and consumption did not slow enough – but managed to avoid this because people changed their behaviour. Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Getty

Cape Town offers lessons on how to save water

Our water use is higher than the global average – and we need to fix infrastructure to reduce losses

The RMS system continued to provide erroneous bills, as the metro had passed a credit for water charges totalling R564 641.04 for another residential property in Tongaat in November 2021 after a complaint was lodged.
(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rand Water shutdown: Store water two days in advance

Recovery could take five to 14 days, advises Johannesburg Water

With dysfunctional sewage plants and failing water treatment plants such as Temba (above) South Africa has the perfect conditions for diseases such as cholera to thrive. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

From the archives: The water crisis

In 2015, the M&G ran a series of articles about the critical state of water and sanitation. Things have only got worse in the years since then

Looking to the future: Gabriel Klassen had to face the harsh reality of Cape Town running out of water

Cape Town’s Day Zero scare raised a new generation of young climate activists

Gabriel Klassen, who grew up on Cape Town’s Cape Flats, is one of the many young climate activists in South Africa who are reaching out to their peers and pushing for change and…

The town of Peddie and surrounding Eastern Cape villages have been without a regular supply of clean water for months, prompting a water strike next to the N2 highway. (Anna Majavu)

Police respond to rural water protests with bullets

The coronavirus has hit the Eastern Cape hard, but many rural areas in the province still have no clean water for hand washing, forcing residents to break lockdown regulations to…

Katse Dam, part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, helps to keep Gauteng water flowing. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Why good governance is key for countries facing climate disruption

More droughts and floods, driven by climate change, will expose competing political pressures.