Bheki Mpofu and Mariam Isa
25 November 2008
Johannesburg — THE controversial suspension of researcher Anthony Turton from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) over his damning report on the quality of our drinking water has brought the subject of water safety to the fore of public debate again.
Turton -- a political scientist and researcher in the field of water resource management -- was suspended from the CSIR last week after being prevented from presenting a paper in which he concludes that "we are heading for a significant crisis in the water sector".
That crisis was likely to fan social instability and constrain future economic development, he said.
His alarm on the looming water crisis follows similar warnings earlier this year by other water resource management experts, which drew vehement denials in Parliament from Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks.
The experts said then that SA's strained water supply system was putting the health of millions at risk, and warned that a crisis similar to that in electricity supply would develop if no immediate steps were taken to preserve water quality.
One of the central arguments in Turton's planned presentation to a CSIR conference last week was that SA faced a water crisis both because of declining water infrastructure and because of a lack of skilled personnel.
In his paper, circulated internally at the CSIR weeks before the conference, Turton says the government must either accept that the development targets of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA are unattainable, or must launch a radical rethink of how to mobilise SA's science, engineering and technological capacity.
"After all, the Uhuru Decade came to an end with the electricity crisis in early 2008. This Uhuru Decade has been manifest all across Africa when a liberation movement has inherited infrastructure that works for about 10 years before starting to break down through lack of investment in operation, maintenance and skilled human capacity," Turton says.
"In SA's case that infrastructure was particularly robust, so it has lasted a decade and a half, but it is now clearly under pressure and if left alone will collapse piece by piece, in the mid-term future."
The trend in infrastructure investment for water at the national level shows this prognosis to be probable in a startling way, he says.
To illustrate this point, Turton says a significant proportion of SA's municipalities have no civil engineering professional support, with rural areas affected the most.
"It is precisely these rural areas that are most likely to be affected by the deteriorating water quality arising from eutrophication in rivers and dams. It is also these local authorities that are the least capable of adapting water treatment processes and plant to remove microcystins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and antiretroviral medication (ARVs) that are likely to arise from a population with a heavy burden of AIDS-related diseases," he says.
Turton says SA has failed to mobilise what previous scholars have described as "social ingenuity" -- a necessary precondition for "technical ingenuity" -- the capacity of a nation to develop solutions to problems driven by external change.
He reiterates the widely held view that SA is failing to produce enough engineers to plug the skills gap and says that lack of investment in water research since 1985 means SA is now "flying blind as a nation".
There was also an urgent need for a study of people living near mines to determine the effect of chronic exposure to heavy metals, he says. "This will be complex and costly, but we need such a study as a matter of national emergency."
Turton's comments about the supply and safety of SA's drinking water echo concerns that have been raised in recent years.
These worries have been heightened by recent outbreaks of disease that have left thousands sick and scores dead after drinking contaminated water.
These deaths, especially those of 83 babies in the Eastern Cape earlier this year, are directly attributed to the shortage of skilled personnel to manage the water supply.
The dire shortage of technical skills in municipalities, which are critical to the delivery of healthy water to millions of consumers, especially in poorer areas, has also been acknowledged by the water affairs and forestry department.
Engineers and technicians are instrumental in the construction, maintenance and repair of water infrastructure, as well as the treatment of water.
According to the CSIR, Dr Turton has 19 years' experience of strategic planning and risk assessment in areas of contestation, including negotiations that ended complex and protracted periods of conflict.
Included in this were the negotiations that led to the South African withdrawal from Angola; the implementation of UN Resolution 435 and the independence of Namibia; the secret negotiations that led to the release of political prisoners and the Codesa constitutional talks; and the secret diplomatic negotiations that ended Mozambique's civil war.
Turton has a PhD in the hydropolitics of SA, has written extensively on water resource management and has a specialist interest in governance.
He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Water Resources Development and is an invited speaker to major international events.
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lol fisherperry, you must be a troll, your post was too obvious
no country is perfect, esp since Eskom is having problems which is well documented. hopefully SA will get through this ;)
South Africa is simply a Touch of Paradise--------------------- Look at the other countries on the continent ,all of them are either failed states on having such diastrous ,self created, humanitarian crises that would even make a devil cry.Its hard to beleive that South Africa is on the continent of Africa.Its government is progressive and stable,infra structure is developed to the level compatible to that of the most developed copuntries.Most importantly ,the government is populated by men of integrity,skills and men of vision.South Africa assist all African countries in an effot to help them in the rather frequent crises most of its neighbors are in crises.Now, the supposed water crises as written by Turton does not fit into that background of South Africa just described.Turton is now out of a job(rightly so) because in effect he deseminated mis information,dysinformation and lies in order to acheive his own ,obviously twisted agenda, undoubtly political.South Africa is an Industrial giant the needs of every citizen are being adressed.If another Anthony (snake in the grass )Turton arise his/her fate will be similar vis-a-vis unemployed an unemployed man has no pulpit to preach from and spread verbal poison to his congregation. South Africa count your blessing for if it was not for grace so would you be.