Just 8% of South Africa’s land area provided 50% of the country’s surface water and the country could be on the cusp of a drought, World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) Freshwater Programme head Christine Colvin warned at a Power of Partnerships seminar in Johannesburg on Friday.

She said South Africa needed to close the gap between supply and demand and noted that the projected increase in water demand would be over 17-billion cubic metres a year by 2030, an increase from the current 15-billion cubic metres a year.

She stressed that a broader cross-section of water users needed to understand the role of water and where it came from, reiterating one of WWF-SA’s slogans “water doesn’t come from a tap”.

South Africa’s nonrevenue water accounted for 37% of the total supply and one in ten homes did not have a tap within 200 m of the household, she pointed out.

While this proportion of nonrevenue water was comparable to the global norm, Australia, another water-scarce country, lost only 10% of its water.

Partnerships between government, civil society and the private sector were important to creating a future where healthy freshwater ecosystems underpinned the sustainable development of the country.

WWF-SA CEO Morne du Plessis further stated that the scale of water challenges was such that they could not be overcome alone.

Sanlam and WWF-SA, therefore, reiterated their commitment to promoting water security in South Africa through an almost ten-year partnership.

COMING TOGETHER
Sanlam Group deputy CEO Ian Kirk noted that, globally and locally, asset managers were becoming increasingly aware of the risk of the shortage of water supply and that failure to take action could result in challenges that negatively impact the economy.

He stated that South Africa was listed as one of the 30 most water-stressed countries in the world; therefore, it was imperative that Sanlam take action to preserve and conserve water, resulting in the partnership with WWF-SA.

Sanlam had already invested R30-million in its partnership with WWF-SA and committed a further R20-million, revealed Kirk.

He added that it was important for corporate companies to be active collaborators in the efforts to mitigate any impending water crisis and that companies should become part of a coordinated response to water risks.

“For Sanlam, this is not just another corporate social investment initiative, it is a business imperative. Because we are Wealthsmiths – a term we coined – we realise that our vision to be the leader in wealth creation and protection will not be realised if natural wealth, such as water and healthy living landscapes, are not part of it,” expressed Kirk.

He stated that WWF-SA was a suitable partner to work with to help realise Sanlam’s ambitions of making a meaningful and sustainable contribution to society.