South African Business 2016 edition

OVERVIEW Water Severe

OVERVIEW Water Severe water restrictions are a possibility for the future. 2015 has been the hottest, driest year in decades, with the situation only projected to worsen. Consequently water has to treated as a precious resource and effective water management policies are absolutely essential government, private enterprise and citizens alike. In 2012, water expert Dr Anthony Turton quoted the following sobering statistics: “There are three numbers that we need to think about: 48-billion cubic metres, which is the total rainfall for the country every year, 38-billion cubic metres, which is the total amount of water available in our dams 63-billion cubic metres which is what our water demand will be by 2035. To solve this the country would have to recycle all its water 1.6 times.” In the 1950s, the Orange River Project delivered water from the Orange River to citrus farmers in the far-away Eastern Cape. In a water-scarce country such as South Africa, this kind of transfer scheme is the norm. The country has several good river systems but they are not in exactly the right places. So 80% of Gauteng Province’s water is imported, mostly from the Vaal River, which is supplemented by complex transfers from the Thukela River and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The Vaal basin, which serves the most populated and industrialised part of the country including Johannesburg, receives water from seven inter-basin transfer schemes. The second phase of the giant Lesotho Highlands Water Project is scheduled to start delivering water in 2019. Purification, desalination, water-leakage management and waste-water treatment are some of the issues facing South Africans, and experienced international companies are showing an interest in the country. American companies with a presence in South Africa are the Hach Corporation, Harvard Corporation, Nalco and the Adel Wiggins Group. The National Department of Water Affairs says South Africa needs to spend R573-billion on water infrastructure and demand management in the years to 2022. “Water will definitely be at a premium over the next few months,” said Sputnik Ratau, a spokesperson for the Department of Water Affairs. “The balance of probability suggests that we can anticipate a severe drought in the near future,” Turton said in an email. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 100

OVERVIEW country, covering about 44 000 hectares with a variety of crops. The Vaal Dam and the Bloemhof Dam are important sources of controlled water from the Vaal River. In the south of the province, the Welbedacht Dam delivers water to the main metropolitan area of Mangaung, including Bloemfontein, while a system of canals connects the Vanderkloof Dam on the Orange River with the Riet and Modder river systems. The Vanderkloof Dam controls water flow and allows for better farming along the banks of the river, and the Gariep Dam has hydroelectric capacity. An inter-basin transfer scheme takes 40-million cubic metres per annum from the Caledon River basin and sends it to the Modder River basin for industrial and domestic use. “Water restrictions are likely to be imposed. South Africa is a water-scarce country and we encourage people to conserve water as much as possible,” Ratau said. “The less prudent we are with water, the higher the risk of shortages this year.” Existing systems South Africa’s most central province, the Free State, is bound on all sides by water, the Vaal River to the north and west, the Orange River to the south and the mountainous, river-rich kingdom of Lesotho to the east. The Gariep Dam on the southern edge of the province is South Africa’s biggest dam. The agricultural sector benefits through irrigation from the flow of the Vaal River. The Vaal- Harts irrigation system is one of the most productive in the New schemes Recent transfer projects include the Western Aqueduct project (valued at R864-million) and the associated Northern Aqueduct Augmentation Project, (Durban, Umgeni Water) and the Mokolo Crocodile Augmentation Project, which is designed to supply water to Medupi, the new power station at Lephalale in Limpopo Province. A pump station and a 45km pipeline between the site of the power station and the Mokolo Dam is being built by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, the body mandated by the National Department of Water Affairs to fund and implement bulk water infrastructure. The TCTA has also overseen progress on the Komati Water Supply Augmentation Project, the raising of the wall of the Clanwilliam Dam and the Groot Letaba River Water Development Project. The Mooi-Mgeni Transfer Scheme will provide an extra 60-million m? per year in KwaZulu-Natal. The Eastern Cape’s R20-billion Uzimvubu Dam project will provide much-needed water and hydroelectric power. The country has recently invested in three major water projects. The Berg River Water Project supplies water to the Cape metropole. Inaugurated in March 2009, the project took 14 years from conception to completion. The latest mega-project is the Olifants River Water Resources Development Project (ORWRDP) which will supply water to more than a million people living on the Nebo Plateau and Mokopane, Polokwane and Lebowakgomo. The construction of the De Hoop Dam is a major component of the masterplan. The total cost of the project is estimated at R20-billion. The De Hoop Dam wall will be 85 metres high and contain around 1.1-million m 2 of concrete that will be compacted down to 700 000m 2 . Cement for the project is being supplied by PPC from its facilities in Limpopo (Dwaalboom) and Pretoria. 101 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016