Water and Climate Change in Africa by Perkins Patricia E.;

Author:Perkins, Patricia E.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

A hot climate: climate change and equity issues

Water demand already outstrips supply in Durban. The government’s water reconciliation plan shows that the Spring Grove dam was supposed to be built in 2009 to respond to this shortfall, but funds were evidently used to prepare for the World Cup and the dam was delayed. Although there has been heavy rainfall since 2009, this is expected to turn to dry spells soon, and then the municipality will have to resort to imposing water restrictions (Macleod interview, 2011).

The municipality would most likely introduce a restriction of 400 litres per household per day. Currently middle class families tend to use this amount of water per person, so it will be quite an adjustment for an entire family to live on that much (Macleod interview, 30 April 2010). In contrast, many poor and working class families live on the free basic water allotment of roughly 50 litres per person per day (for an estimated household size of five people). So it is the wealthy who are likely to feel the pinch of living on less water, revealing current injustices.

Water scarcity alongside the high capital cost of a new dam means that we can also expect the cost of water—and tariffs—to increase. But how will the tariff curve be shaped? In other words, will this be passed onto users equally? Poor people who go above the free basic allocation due to a typical large family size would suffer. Or can the tariff curve be steep and concave enough that high end users bear the brunt of the increase? (Bond, 2002).

These equity issues show how the impacts of climate change in an urban African city is mediated by municipal policies. To make the bland statement that “variable rainfall will put more pressure on water services and even more pressure on poor people” misses the complex role of the municipality in adding or buffering that pressure. How can civil society engage with these issues?

One example of civil society engagement is Umphilo waManzi’s work in three related areas.

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