Date: 13 August 2019
Time: 12h30 – 14:00
Venues in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town (Videoconferencing facilities: see below)
Panel: Dr Stephen Rule, Dr Wilfred Lunga, Dr Saahier Parker & Yamkela Majikijela, Social Policy, Knowledge Mobilisation, and Impact Assessment (SoKIA) research programme, HSRC
Water supply dam levels for the City of Cape Town dropped to their lowest levels in 100 years of recorded history in January 2018. Owing to the city’s prominence as an international tourist destination, much media attention focused on the impending drought disaster (Ziervogel, 2019). Initial warnings and alerts issued by the city authorities did not result in significant changes to household and commercial water consumption patterns. A more robust approach was therefore adopted, whereby it was declared that at prevailing consumption rates, supply would be depleted by the 16th April 2018, a day that was designated as ‘Day Zero’. A restriction to 50 litres of water for all purposes per person per day was imposed as a means of drastically reducing domestic consumption. Consumers did then realise the severity of situation, and the use of water declined dramatically.
A community and organisational survey was conducted early in 2019 across several neighbourhoods in Cape Town and two small towns in the Western Cape hinterland to elucidate and assess the adaptations and water conservation methodologies and strategies that were implemented. It emerged that awareness of the drought and the officially imposed water restrictions was high, but that a significant proportion of respondents thought that official communications and strategic decisions about the management of the drought could have been more effective and better managed. In relation to experience in other cities (Friedler, 2008; Campisano & Modica, 2010; Birkmann et al, 2010; Ziervogel, 2019.), the surveyed households and businesses reported drastic reduction of their water consumption. This was achieved by less washing of clothes, less showering, and the recycling of grey water for toilet flushing and garden watering. A range of suggestions was made about the management of future droughts. These included better maintenance of existing water storage infrastructure, and the establishment of new capacity; earlier and more transparent communication about the severity of the drought and the rationale for restrictions on water consumption; and subsidisation of the installation of storage tanks and boreholes
Kindly RSVP by 12 August 2019
Pretoria: HSRC Video Conference Room, 1st floor HSRC Library, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria.
Contact Arlene Grossberg | T: (012) 302 2811 | E: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za
Cape Town: HSRC Video Conference Room, Merchant House 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town.
Contact Shouneez Khan| T: (021) 466 7948 | E: skhan@hsrc.ac.za
Durban: HSRC Video Conference Room, The Atrium, 5th Floor, 430 Peter Mokaba Ridge, Berea, 4001.
Contact Ridhwaan Khan | T: (031) 242 5400 | C: 083 788 2786 | E: RKhan@hsrc.ac.za or Wiseman Mbambo | E: wmbambo@hsrc.ac.za
The HSRC seminar series is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The views and opinions expressed therein as well as findings and statements of the seminar series do not necessarily represent the views of the DST
Vidyo Link:
https://hsrc-vc.tenet.ac.za/flex.html?roomdirect.html&key=GGKGXLnInSbnn5Mspk7JfF1qu8