Of South Africa’s usable water yield, 98 % has already been allocated, with water demand likely to grow by 1 to 2 % in the next decade, which means that there is no great margin for error when planning for the future, according to Acting Water Affairs Director-General, Trevor Balzer, speaking at the South African Water Energy and Food Forum 2013 at Monte Casino on 30 July 2013.

Aside from fast approaching full utilisation in an already water-stressed country, the current trends such as increased urbanisation and climate change further contribute towards a continued increase in demand.

“We need new ways to decrease water demand and increase availability. We need to move away from traditional engineering solutions. We need a fundamental shift in focus. We need to look at our current sources of funding and whether there’s an opportunity to increase funds from them,” said Balzer.

According to Balzer, South Africa has raised the estimate needed for spending on water provision over the next 10 years from R510 billion to an estimated R700 billion. The country has, to date, budgeted for approximately 45% of the R700 billion, leaving a R385 billion gap for which the government is looking at bond markets, banks and increasing customer revenue to finance the shortfall to meet the country’s growing demand for water.

Despite this, Balzer reiterated the Department’s optimism. “We remain optimistic that ensuring the proper management of our water resources will continue.”

“Let’s make it happen,” concluded Balzer.