Why water, why now

During the past year, South Africa has experienced rather severe rainfall extremes. While much of the country, especially the north-eastern regions, had to deal with floods, the Cape province, and particularly the Eastern Cape, is suffering the worst drought in many years.

At the same time, while the local rainfall situation has again reminded us how powerless we are in controlling a natural resource such as water, it has also reminded us what a critical commodity water really is, both locally and internationally.

With this endurance walk, we want to do our bit to raise awareness about the critical water situation (in terms of quantity and quality), locally and internationally.

The South African water crisis

Some facts and opinions from the experts:

• South Africa no longer has any surplus water, since 98 percent of it has already been allocated. Furthermore the levels of pollution in rivers and dams mean that they have lost the ability to dilute effluents. – Dr Antony Turton, an expert in hydropolitics and transboundary water resources.


• Polluted water, poor management of dams and deteriorating infrastructure could lead to a major water crisis in South Africa. Although our average annual rainfall in South Africa is lower than the global average, our primary problem lies with sustaining good water quality rather than a limitation at the source. – Durban-based water researcher, Professor Faizal Bux


• Africa's freshwater resources are under serious threat from climate change and urgent adaptation measures are needed. –The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report 'Fresh Water Under Threat, Vulnerability Assessment of Freshwater Resources to Environmental Change, Africa', released at the 2nd Africa Water Week in South Africa in November 2009.


• Parts of Africa will suffer prolonged droughts by 2025, leading to a lack of water for domestic consumption and agriculture, while other areas will experience flooding. – Alfred Opere, one of the authors of the above UN report.

The international picture

According to charity organisation water:charity (www.watercharity.org):

• Internationally, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.


• Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.


• Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Those hours are crucial, preventing many from working or attending school.


• Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

Water.org (www.water.org), another international charity focussed on water, cites the following statistics:

• 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.


• 43% of water-related deaths are due to diarrhea.


• 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 – 14.


• 98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world.


• 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people.

The World Water Council (www.worldwatercouncil.org) states:

• While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50%. This population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences for the environment.