Preventing a national water crisis starts now

This seminar will discuss how South Africa can prevent its looming water crisis.

Cape Town’s water crisis dominates headlines, but the problem extends well beyond the Mother City. Since 2015, five provinces have been declared disaster areas and South Africa now faces its worst drought in 23 years.

Prior to National Water Week, the ISS is launching findings from South Africa’s only long-term forecast of national water supply and demand. The prognosis is not good. The country is overexploiting its water resources and only intense fiscal investment and determined political will can prevent disaster 20 years from now. This seminar discusses what must be done.

Copies of the new ISS report, A delicate balance: water scarcity in South Africa will be available.

This seminar is hosted in partnership with the Water Research Commission.

Chair: Dr Shafick Adams, Executive Manager, Water Research Commission

Speakers:

Zachary Donnenfeld, Senior Researcher, ISS

Dhesigen Naidoo, CEO, Water Research Commission

Mlungisi Johnson, Chairperson, Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation

Trevor Balzer, Deputy Director-General, Special Projects, Department of Water and Sanitation

Development partners
The ISS is grateful for support from the following members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the European Union and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA.
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