Mewtee, 4157 Ranaka Street, Randfontein (2025)

29/08/2025

South Africa’s service delivery crisis: why protesters are using more militant tactics.

Post-apartheid South Africa is characterised by frequent public protests. On average, between 2007 and 2013, there were over 11 protests daily. Research shows that protests almost doubled in the 20 years after 1997.

Service delivery protests – over basic services such as housing, electricity, refuse removal, water and sanitation – feature most prominently in these protests.

These protesters employ diverse tactics at different times: marching to government offices, barricading roads, destroying property and attacking unpopular individuals.

Often people ask why protesters resort to destroying public and private property and attacking people.

I have researched poor people’s struggles for housing and basic services in South Africa since 2012.

This article draws from a study involving 20 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions in Gugulethu and the same number in Khayelitsha. These are low-income black townships in Cape Town.

The study investigated three inter-related questions: the reasons for protests, the tactics used by protesters, and the character and organisation of the protests. This article focuses on when, how and why different tactics are used in these protests.

It may be easy to blame protesters for barricading roads, vandalising property and attacking people. However, as my study shows, protesters often initially engage in peaceful and orderly marches. They resort to more radical tactics only when peaceful tactics fail to yield results.

Rather than placing the blame squarely on protesters, there is a need to consider the seriousness of their grievances (such as lack of water), and the failure by the authorities to respond speedily and adequately. Genuinely acknowledging and addressing the grievances discourages more militant protest tactics.

Findings
There is often a perception that communities have an appetite to engage in violent protests. But my research shows that this is not the case.

Aggrieved communities often engage in protests to push for the delivery of basic services.

Usually, poor communities first engage in rounds of orderly and peaceful means of engagement with government officials to alert them to their grievances.

These means of engagement – which are less reported by the media – include holding meetings with the officials responsible for addressing their challenges, and handing them written demands.

When all these means of engagement fail to yield fruit, communities resort to more dramatic means of engagement. These include barricading roads to pressure the government to meet their demands. Even when they turn to dramatic tactics, they first exhaust less dramatic ones.

As the scholar-activist Trevor Ngwane has rightly remarked,

When people start hitting the streets, they should have a banner saying: ‘All protocols observed’, because they’ve gone through all the channels … People feel that the only way to be heard, to get attention, is to burn tyres and engage in some of protest.

My research in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha found that a lack of response, or a poor or unsatisfactory response, led to more radical tactics.

For example, a pastor I interviewed explained the rationale for more radical protest tactics with a compelling metaphor. He explained that pain was necessary in order for someone to take action. He gave an example of a person with a sore arm, but who did nothing to address the source of the pain. He reasoned that if someone else pinched the sore arm, this would compel the patient to take necessary steps to ensure that the arm was healed.

In the same way, he explained that the government knew about the “sore arms”, or poor conditions that impoverished communities endured, but chose to ignore them.

To pressure the government to address their grievances, communities sometimes employ radical protest tactics (pinching). For communities enduring appalling service delivery, the momentary inconveniences ensuing from the “pinching” pale in comparison to the ignored service delivery challenges (sore arms).

My research, for example, highlights the precariousness of living in shacks, lacking a bathroom, toilet, running water and electricity.

It is these challenges that residents episodically protest against using primarily orderly means of engagement and sometimes more radical protest tactics to pressure (or pinch) the government to address the challenges.

What should be done?
Tactics such as the destruction of property and attacks on people that sometimes accompany protests should be discouraged. At the same time, it is important to condemn the circumstances that necessitate such radical tactics.

A more responsive government would try to make it unnecessary for people to turn to militant protests to air their grievances. The government should proactively address service delivery challenges and swiftly respond to the complaints raised by communities.

28/08/2025

Africa’s city planners must look to the global south for solutions: Johannesburg and São Paulo offer useful insights.

For decades, the dominant theories and models in urban studies have been built from the experience of a small set of mostly western cities. Other urban contexts, particularly those in Africa, Latin America and Asia, have too often been treated as peripheral, as if they simply copy or lag behind “northern” norms.

Urban geographer Jennifer Robinson has called this out, arguing that urban theory needs to take seriously the diverse realities of all cities. This means starting from places like Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, and São Paulo, Brazil’s financial capital, not just as isolated case studies, but rather as central sites for understanding dynamic urban processes. The majority of urbanisation in the coming decade will take place in contexts just like these.

I came to Urban Power, a book written by professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University Benjamin Bradlow last year, with this framing in mind.

Bradlow’s focus is on three essential urban public goods in São Paulo, population 22 million people, and Johannesburg, population 6.5 million people: housing, transport and sanitation.

His central question is: why are some cities more effective than others at reducing inequalities in the built environment?

The answer lies in what Bradlow calls urban power.

What is ‘urban power’?
Bradlow defines urban power as the way formal and informal relationships come together in a city that influences how that city is governed and ultimately how the public services and infrastructures are distributed across the urban space. Two elements determine how well this functions in any given city context.

First, embeddedness – the ties between city government and social movements in civil society. Second is cohesion. This is the abiltiy of city governments to coordinate across their own departments and agencies.

Bradlow argues that effective urban power is built when both embeddedness and cohesion are strong, as these determine how well policy is informed by and accountable to those most affected.

Thus struggles to build and exercise such power form a core foundation of urban governance. This ultimately shapes both the distribution of urban public goods and how effectively they reach the most marginalised.

Basically, it’s about how those in power are willing and able to coordinate with society and within government to meet everybody’s needs fairly.

Housing: different paths
As São Paulo (1980s) and Johannesburg (1990s) entered their democratic eras, both were led by mayors who explicitly committed to redistributing wealth by extending adequate housing to the most excluded neighbourhoods.

Yet, housing is also the sector in which Bradlow finds some of the starkest contrasts in outcomes between the two cities.

During South Africa’s democratic transition, the rallying cry of “one city, one tax base” brought together neighbourhood associations, social movements and local branches of trade unions. To overcome the fiscal fragmentation left by apartheid, wealthy and largely white areas of the city were to contribute property taxes to a central fiscal administration. This central body would then cross-subsidise precisely the new capital investments in poor black townships.

But in the years that followed, the governing African National Congress (ANC) party demobilised social movements in favour of a centralised one-party system.

The effects of this were evident in Johannesburg. Weakened ties between the city government and civil society (embeddedness) led to the municipal bureaucracy becoming increasingly detached from housing movements. As a result, it was poorly positioned to challenge the dominance of private real-estate interests.

In São Paulo, the municipal bureaucracy maintained close ties with housing movements. It used this embeddedness to build cohesion within its own ranks. This enabled the city to make use of national mandates to challenge the power of real-estate interests and introduce innovations that expanded social housing.

Central to this effort was the 2001 City Statute. This piece of legislation enshrined the “social function of property,” a constitutional right, at the city level. The legal framework unlocked tools such as the Special Zones of Social Interest (ZEIS), which reserved well-located land for social housing.

Crucially, São Paulo became one of the first major Brazilian cities to adopt a master plan that explicitly advanced the redistributive goals of housing movements.

São Paulo’s housing story is far from perfect. And the city still struggles to meet the demand for affordable housing. Nevertheless, it has made important strides.

Transport: institutions or technology first?
Bradlow illustrates how São Paulo pursued an “institutions first” approach towards transport. For years, social movements had pressed for lower fares and better services to the city’s peripheries. Responding to these demands, the Erundina administration (1989-1992) restructured the relationship between private bus operators and the municipal concessioning authority. Fare revenue was collected by the authority itself. It then paid operators based on the quality and quantity of service provided.

This shift allowed the city to introduce reforms like the bilhete único, a single ticket valid across the entire network. It meant that shorter trips subsidised longer ones. This made access more equitable regardless of where one lived. In addition, large and small operators were integrated into a single system, revenue became more predictable, and planning could prioritise network-wide benefits.

Johannesburg, by contrast, led with a “technology first” approach. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Rea Vaya, emerged in the early 2000s. However, the minibus taxi operators, who were the backbone of existing transport, were largely excluded from the planning process.

The BRT’s economics were challenging from the outset, given Johannesburg’s spatial fragmentation. Operators were offered shares in newly created bus companies if they withdrew their taxis. But this arrangement relied on an untested profit model.

Institutional complexity (lack of cohesison) compounded the problem. Operational licences and recapitalisation were controlled at the provincial rather than the municipal level. Most importantly, the lack of embeddedness meant that resistance from the local operators was almost inevitable.

The comparison of the transport sector highlights a recurring theme. São Paulo’s slower, messier process fostered embeddedness. It treated redistribution through collective transport as a political project rather than a technocratic exercise. Johannesburg pursued a faster, technology-driven route that bypassed the negotiations which might have made the system more sustainable.

Sanitation: building accountability
If housing is a residential public good and transport a networked one, sanitation sits in between. It’s delivered to individual homes, but reliant on city-wide infrastructure.

Bradlow highlights how in São Paulo, the municipal government succeeded in creating downward accountability from the state-level sanitation company (cohesion). By doing so, it shifted decision-making power closer to the local level. This ensured that service priorities better reflected the city’s everyday realities rather than distant state-level agendas.

The new alignment made it possible to extend services into informal settlements without requiring formal tenure, a critical flexibility that had long been a barrier to inclusion. At the same time, it strengthened municipal planning and coordination capacity. Service delivery became more firmly embedded within the city’s own governance structures.

In Johannesburg, by contrast, weak cohesion, reflected in the lack of planning integration, meant housing projects were often implemented without corresponding sanitation infrastructure. Reforms had separated sanitation from broader spatial planning, fostering fragmented governance.

The city also adopted a model shaped by private-sector principles. Examples include self-financing, performance-based contracting, and competition. In practice, these led to service cuts in poorer areas where cost recovery was impossible.

The comparison illustrates how the same broad national reform agenda can play out very differently depending on municipal capacity and institutional alignment (cohesion).

Why the comparison matters
Cross-context comparisons reveal patterns and possibilities that single-city studies might miss. Bradlow’s book illuminates how rapid urbanisation, entrenched inequality and fiscal constraints intersect. These insights have significance far beyond these cases.

His book is a call for urban theory to start from the global south not as an afterthought, but as a foundation. As urban studies specialist Jane Jacobs observed:

"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."

Bradlow’s book shows, with precision, what it takes, politically and institutionally, to make that vision real.

Author
Astrid R.N. Haas
Research associate at African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town

Disclosure statement
Astrid R.N. Haas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

27/08/2025

South Africa and China set up a quantum communication link: how we did it and why it’s historic.

A major breakthrough in quantum technology was achieved in October 2024: the first-ever quantum satellite communication link between China and South Africa. The connection spanned a remarkable 12,900km: the longest intercontinental quantum communication link established to date. The longest before this was 7,600km and within the northern hemisphere only.

It was achieved with quantum key distribution, a method for a sender and receiver to share a secure key that they can use to safely send messages. Any interception during transmission leaves traces that can be detected. It involves sending single photons (tiny particles of light).

If someone tries to intercept the photons, the photons get disturbed because of quantum physics. Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. Sender and receiver use only undisturbed photons, making the key to the message ultra secure. The key can be sent via optical fibre or free-space, including satellites.

Quantum communication can be used to send data in many sectors such as the government, military and financial sectors.

I’m part of the group of quantum physics researchers who created a secure, real-time quantum link between Beijing in China and Stellenbosch University in South Africa. It’s the first quantum satellite link in the southern hemisphere. It’s also the first secure quantum communication between the northern and southern hemispheres.

The connection enabled the secure transmission of encrypted images, relying on the unique principles of quantum physics.

With this achievement, South Africa has joined the frontier of quantum communication. It’s a step towards an eventual fully integrated, secure and global quantum internet.

What we achieved
As researchers, we are interested in developing optical systems to deploy quantum communication links.

Our primary focus is on satellite-based quantum communication. Satellite links are vital for developing a secure quantum communication network since they work over distances of several thousand kilometres. Fibre networks on the ground have distance limitations.

We design instruments (optical payloads) capable of generating and detecting entangled photons in orbit.

Read more: Quantum entanglement: what it is, and why physicists want to harness it

Our work bridges quantum optics, aerospace engineering and communication theory to realise scalable, high-performance quantum links between ground stations and satellites.

To set up quantum communication links between China and South Africa, a microsatellite called Jinan 1 was launched into low Earth orbit, and a portable optical ground station was set up. This is basically a movable device equipped with a powerful telescope and special detectors that detect the encoded photons sent from the satellite.

The ultra-secure quantum satellite link between China and South Africa was achieved during a single pass of the satellite over the optical ground station. It was not only the longest quantum satellite link but also the most secure that’s been achieved. The key, the undisturbed photons, consisted of 1.07 million bits (units of data).

Why this matters
Traditional secure communication methods rely on mathematical algorithms and the computational difficulty of solving certain problems, such as factoring large numbers. In contrast, quantum communication draws its security from the fundamental laws of physics. Such laws include the no-cloning theorem. It states that it is impossible to make an exact copy of an unknown quantum state and that the observer effect (measurement disturbance) of measuring a quantum state changes it. This makes eavesdropping detectable.

Quantum key distribution allows two parties to share encryption keys in a way that detects any attempt at eavesdropping. The keys are encoded using quantum states, typically single photons, and transmitted through optical fibres or free-space links. While fibre-based systems suffer from signal loss over long distances, satellites offer a promising solution by operating in the low-loss environment of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

Quantum satellite communication is a step towards building a global quantum internet – an interconnected network that enables secure communication, quantum computing, and sensing across continents.

The success of Jinan-1 points the way towards networks of quantum microsatellites, making secure global communication a real possibility.

Moving forward
There are major opportunities for both industry and policymakers.

For businesses, especially in sectors like finance, defence and healthcare, these links enable ultra-secure communication systems that are resistant to hacking even from future quantum computers. This allows companies to protect and communicate sensitive data.

For policymakers, it presents a chance to strengthen national security, and set global standards for responsible use. Similarly, investment in research and education to build a skilled workforce.

It also encourages international cooperation, as countries work together to create a secure communication network.

Overall, quantum satellite links could reshape how the world communicates, making privacy and security more reliable than ever before.

Author
Yaseera Ismail
Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University

Disclosure statement
Yaseera Ismail does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

26/08/2025

Grandparenting from a distance: what’s lost when families are separated, and how to bridge the gap.

Becoming a grandparent is often envisioned as a deeply intimate, hands-on journey, holding a newborn, sharing first smiles, witnessing the first wobbly steps. It is traditionally grounded in physical presence, marked by spontaneous visits.

For many grandparents whose children have emigrated, however, these defining moments often unfold not in person, but through screens, filtered through time zones, digital platforms, and a lingering sense of distance.

This is true in South Africa, a country with rising emigration, especially among young families. Over a million South Africans now live abroad. This has systemic, multigenerational effects.

In a recent study I explored the impact of global emigration on the relationships between South African grandparents and their grandchildren born abroad. I examined what it means to step into their grandparent role from afar, often for the first time, and how the absence of physical closeness reshapes intergenerational relationships.

I have published various articles on migration and intergenerational relationships in transnational families. I also run a private practice that focuses on the emotional challenges of emigration.

As part of my PhD study, I conducted in-depth interviews with 24 South African parents whose adult children had emigrated. This project laid the foundation for my broader research programme on the emotional effects of migration. This research article is based on the experiences of 44 participants.

For these grandparents, emigration represents more than just geographical separation. The familiar rhythms of hands-on grandparenting, from spontaneous visits to shared celebrations, are disrupted. With it comes a layered and ongoing sense of loss, not only of everyday interactions with their grandchildren, but also the gradual fading of a cherished role once grounded in physical presence and routine connection.

The findings show that the absence of physical proximity creates profound emotional barriers, especially during the early, most formative years of a grandchild’s life. Yet despite this distance, grandparents are finding creative and meaningful ways to remain emotionally present.

In transnational families, grandparents serve as custodians of cultural continuity and emotional support as well as active agents reshaping the meaning of grandparenthood in the context of global migration.

What grandparents had to say

The central question of my research was how distance reshaped the role of some grandparents in South African families. It further investigated how grandparents adapted and renegotiated their roles across different stages of their grandchildren’s lives.

The selection criteria included: being a South African citizen; speaking fluent English; living in South Africa; being a parent whose adult child(ren) had emigrated and lived abroad for at least one year; and being from any race, culture, gender; socio-economic status; aged between 50 and 80 years.

I supplemented interviews with qualitative surveys distributed via my online support group.

Grandparents reported various challenges,such as the loss of everyday involvement, the emotional strain of distance, and difficulties with digital communication that required ongoing adaptive strategies to sustain connection.

The study shows how distance does not necessarily weaken intergenerational bonds but requires grandparents to redefine presence.

My research made it clear that the place of birth is a pivotal factor in shaping the grandparent- grandchild bond.

Grandparents of children who are born in South Africa and move to another country later are often involved from the beginning. They assist with daily care, celebrate milestones and enjoy spontaneous visits. These everyday interactions nurture strong emotional ties.

As Annelise, a participant, shared:

When your grandchild is born here, you know them from birth, you see them every day, you share in everything.

When these grandchildren emigrate, the rupture can be profound. Grandparents not only lose regular contact but also their role as hands-on caregivers.

When grandchildren are born abroad, a different emotional journey unfolds. Joy and excitement are often tempered by longing and sadness.

The reality of nurturing relationships across borders forces grandparents to redefine their roles.

For many families, pregnancy strengthens the bond between generations, especially between mothers and daughters. This phase is typically marked by shared rituals, which shape both maternal and grandparental identities. Rituals foster emotional connection and a sense of belonging.

But for grandparents who are separated, these moments may be replaced by screenshots and voice notes, making milestones feel distant and intangible.

This early absence can feel like an exclusion from grandparenthood itself, as if the role is denied before it has even begun. The phenomenon aligns closely with US psychologist Pauline Boss’s concept of ambiguous loss, grief without closure.

Despite this, many grandparents remain actively involved. Some grandparents become what US sociologists Judith Treas and Shampa Mazumdar call “seniors on the move”, becoming more mobile, structuring their lives around flights, visa renewals and seasonal caregiving.

But the challenges are big.

Staying close from far away

Sustaining a relationship across borders is tough.

Two key strategies emerged in my research: virtual communication and transnational visits.

All those I interviewed used technology extensively: weekly Zoom story time, recorded readings, or care “parcels” filled with letters, recipes, or handmade crafts.

In-person visits were limited by a mix of financial, logistical, emotional, and relational barriers.

The flights are just too expensive, and with my health, I don’t think I could manage the trip. It breaks my heart, but it’s just not possible. I don’t think I will ever see him again.

I also found that the role of parents was key. Through sharing photos, initiating calls, and keeping grandparents present in everyday conversations, some parents helped emotional bonds flourish.

My daughter and son-in-law are both very good at sending me photos and videos regularly … They both know how much I miss being with my two grandkids, so they keep me updated … They also phone weekly and encourage the children to be focused on our calls.

Takeaways

Transnational grandparenting challenges the traditional script of hands-on involvement. It calls for a reimagining of presence.

My research shows that grandparents are doing that through creativity, emotional elasticity and enduring love. They are forging a new kind of grandparenting across continents: one where connection transcends distance.

Author
Sulette Ferreira
Transnational Family Specialist and Researcher, University of Johannesburg

Disclosure statement
Sulette Ferreira is a research fellow at the University of Johannesburg.

25/08/2025

South Africa’s sewage crisis: official reports don’t include millions of litres of leaking wastewater.

Wastewater is the water we flush down our toilets, send down the drain from our showers and sinks or discharge from factories. It’s supposed to travel through intact pipes to be cleaned at wastewater works. If it gets into rivers and streams, it pollutes and contaminates these with nutrients, antibiotics, antiretrovirals, heavy metals, plastics, and pesticides. It can cause a full-scale ecological collapse by polluting freshwater so badly that life in the system is wiped out.

As populations grow, it’s vital for governments to monitor wastewater closely. In South Africa, the government initiated the Green Drop assessment programme in 2008 to report on all the wastewater treatment works. But the programme only ran for five years before stopping for eight years. It was eventually relaunched in 2021. What happened in those missing eight years? Aquatic ecologist Mark Graham, research scientist Nicholas B. Pattinson and water and sanitation engineer Dave Still found that tens of millions of litres of sewage went missing through leaks. They tell The Conversation Africa more about their research.

What’s the big problem with wastewater?
Less and less wastewater is being treated in South Africa even though the population is growing. Our data shows that the volume of wastewater reaching South Africa’s treatment plants did not grow from 2013 to 2021, even though the South African population increased by about 5.52 million people (10%) during that period.

This means the wastewater is going missing somewhere en route to the wastewater treatment works. Even where treatment capacity is increased or treatment plants are upgraded, this will be ineffectual if wastewater does not reach the wastewater treatment works.

As part of our larger investigations, we conducted a case study on the Darvill wastewater treatment works in Pietermaritzburg, an inland city that is capital of the second most populous province in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal.

Over a billion rand (US$56 million) was spent upgrading the Darvill plant between 2013 and 2021 precisely so that it could treat more wastewater. However, as our data shows, the extra wastewater is not reaching the works. Darvill is treating less sewage today than it was in 2013. This is based on a prediction of how much sewage an increased population generates.

Based on the Darvill plant’s data, we calculated that 20 million litres of sewage are going missing every day before reaching the sewage works through broken pipes and failing, vandalised, and poorly maintained reticulation infrastructure.

This shows that Green Drop reporting on wastewater has huge gaps. The Green Drop report captures how well wastewater is treated but does not reveal anything about how much sewage actually reaches treatment plants. A wastewater treatment works can still score highly even if much of the sewage generated in its catchment spills directly into streams and rivers.

Pietermaritzburg is by no means unusual in this regard. For example, the Johannesburg Northern Works processed 18% less sewage (77.7 million litres per day less) in 2021 than in 2013, but its Green Drop score remained little changed.

Why is missing wastewater such a big problem?

It’s a huge problem because scientists know where it is going – straight into our streams and rivers! We see clear evidence of this in E. coli (bacteria) monitoring data within the local rivers and streams. An abundance of E. coli in freshwater systems is a strong indicator of sewage pollution. The median E. coli counts in the streams and rivers around Pietermaritzburg are typically more than ten times higher than they were 15 years ago.

Data gaps, missing wastewater, and poor wastewater management matter because they put people’s wellbeing – especially that of vulnerable and marginalised groups – and the environment at risk. Every year around the world, about 1.5 million people, including about 400,000 children under five years old, die because of poor water, sanitation and hygiene.

Secondly, it decreases water security. South Africa is already extremely water stressed. Poor wastewater management makes wastewater harder to treat and discharge safely, harder to re-purpose for other uses like irrigation, and harder to treat to recycle for drinking. It also contaminates high-quality water sources like the dams used to supply drinking water, making clean water scarcer.

And thirdly, apart from causing loss of human life, wastewater problems have substantial socio-economic implications. For example, the public healthcare system is burdened by dealing with wastewater-related diseases, such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and intestinal worm infections.

There are also opportunity costs related to work missed while sick. Treating water sources that should be clean but are contaminated by wastewater carries an unecessary cost too.

What needs to happen next

Several remediation efforts are needed:

- South Africa needs to invest in improving the condition and the performance of sewer networks and sewage pump stations. The capacity and performance of wastewater treatment works is almost irrelevant if sewage does not reach them in the first place.

- The governance of these sewage treatment systems must be overhauled. Our research highlights that municipal managers need to be held accountable for the whole wastewater system. This includes the reticulation (capturing wastewater and transporting it to the treatment works), treatment, and general wastewater management.

- Reinstating the Green Drop assessments was a vital step towards addressing the wastewater crisis in South Africa. It has meant that scientists and authorities are getting some data. But the Green Drop reports still do not accurately monitor how much wastewater is produced in different areas and whether reticulation networks are fit to transport all the wastewater produced.

- Our study clearly indicates the need for much stronger monitoring of wastewater reticulation. Citizen scientists can help with monitoring by using tools that monitor water quality and assess water clarity. They can also conduct simple water tests and flag potential issues to report to water authorities. Community involvement via citizen science monitoring also helps with environmental education and awareness of the importance of clean water.

- Allowing wastewater to contaminate freshwater sources led to catastrophic incidents like the 2022 Rooiwal Hammanskraal and 2014 Bloemhof cholera outbreaks. In both cases, it is likely that wastewater mismanagement led to multiple deaths. The turnaround of the wastewater crisis needs significant political will and leadership.

The efforts will be worth it. Improved wastewater management will save money, enhance water security, and improve the health of South Africa’s people and freshwater ecosystems. Wastewater must get the attention and resources it needs to avoid more disasters.

Authors
Nicholas B. Pattinson
Research Scientist at GroundTruth, University of Cape Town

Mark Graham
Aquatic Ecologist, Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Disclosure statement
Nicholas B. Pattinson works for GroundTruth. He receives funding from GroundTruth and the CGIAR International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Mark Graham works for and owns shares in GroundTruth - environment and engineering consultants. He receives funding from the Water Research Commission. He is a volunteer and Director with the DUCT - an NGO championing the health of the Dusi and uMngeni River, as well as a Research Associate at the UKZN Centre for Water Resources Research.

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