This is according to Prof Johann Tempelhoff, a researcher and historian at the School of Basic Sciences on the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University (NWU Vaal), who spoke to Die Burger in an interview recently.

Professor Tempelhoff was the guest speaker during the History Conference of the South African Academy for Science and Arts in Pretoria. He said that water will become “considerably” more expensive because of, among other things, its scarcity and the high cost of purification. South Africa has always been a water-stressed country and according to Prof Tempelhoff this crisis is now critical. The country will therefore have to carefully consider how it will approach the water situation and manage its water sources in future. The consensus is that the country’s water sources have to be managed better and in a more integrated manner – an intervention that will need billions of rands to improve the current water infrastructure too.

South Africa – an arid country

South Africa is the 30th most arid country in the world, and approximately 65% of the country receives less than 500 mm rain per year, while 21% receives less than 200 mm. Furthermore, only one quarter of South Africa’s rivers are permanent, while the water runoff in the country is inconsistent and variable.

Prof Johann Tempelhoff