EXCLUSIVE: What you need to know about SA's water crisis
On Breakfast with Martin Bester, we spoke to Dr Anthony Turton, who discussed the current water crisis affecting many parts of South Africa.
Breakfast with Martin Bester spoke to environmental advisor and author Dr Anthony Turton regarding the current 'Day Zero' water crisis looming in South Africa.
According to Dr Turton, the water crisis is not a new thing, and warnings regarding this matter have been issued "long ago".
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"When Day Zero happened in Cape Town in 2018, we already knew that major cities in South Africa are under pressure," Dr Turton said to Martin Bester.
The environmental advisor and author added that scientists in South Africa have been talking about 'Day Zero' since 2002. "We reached the limit of our water in 2002 already." Cape Town and Port Elizabeth have already reached 'Day Zero', and Gauteng is well on its way.
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Dr Turton confirmed that the water crisis is not a "money issue" but rather an engineering, leadership and technical problem.
"We have reached the limit of what our current government has to offer. We need people who are competent in these roles. People with real tactical and technical skills." Turton added that we need honest leadership and governance structures to stop corruption and mismanagement.
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Not all hope is lost, as Turton also confirmed that the problem is "fixable". However, this is only fixable when we have competent people in the correct roles.
Taxpayer money will not be enough to fix the problem, as Turton estimates it will cost around R1-trillion to fix current maintenance issues.
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