




































In ternationa l
Scholars
Journa ls

 

African Journal of Environmental Economics and Management ISSN 2375-0707 Vol. 6 (1), pp. 384-393, 
January, 2018. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 

 

Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. 
 
 

Review 
 

An assessment of the effectiveness of water management 
in South Africa 

 
*Candice Barnard, Justin Shuttleworth and Mark C. Verwoerd 

 
Civil and Chemical Engineering Department, University of South Africa – UNISA, Corner Christian de Wet Road and 

Pioneer Avenue, Florida, Private Bag X6, 1710, Florida Campus, Johannesburg, South Africa. 
 

Accepted 12 October, 2017 
 
In South Africa, there are many challenges regarding water management. Inadequate rainfall, may contribute 
to mismanagement, hence political breakdowns and racial groups do also contribute to the problem. To list 
some of the major challenges for effective management are: limited physical resources, a long cycle of 
inadequate rainfall, a rapid growing population, and stagnant economies. Water resource management is 
crucial for human security. In South Africa, almost everyone is affected by mismanagement of water resource, 
hence those living in poor area are the most affected as they do not have access to potable water and proper 
sanitation. Many policy-makers, researchers, and water managers advocate that water must be managed at the 
level of river basins, based on the argument that river basins are a ‘‘natural’’ unit and thus the logical unit for 
water management. Although stakeholder participation in water management is advocated, actually including 
the poor and achieving substantive stakeholder representation has proven elusive in practice. More often than 
not, participation is little more than token consultation, with no decision-making power in the hands of the 
people concerned? Too often, the participation discourse draws attention away from the very real social and 
economic differences between people and the need for the redistribution of resources, entitlements, and 
opportunities. This is typified by the definition of stakeholders as water. 
 

Key words: Water, management, resources, stakeholder, population, economy. 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 

 
Water may be everywhere, but its use has always been 
constrained in terms of availability, quantity and quality 
(Biswas, 2004). The scarcity of water globally has lead to 
intense political pressures, often referred as “water 
stress”. Furthermore, water problems not only involve 
political boundaries but, it also evades institutional classi-
fication and eludes legal generalization (Wolf, 1999). 
Many challenges regarding water management continue 
to face the world. Some of the primary difficulties may 
include: limited physical resources, a long cycle of 
inadequate rainfall, a rapid growing population, and sta-
gnant economies. Complex challenges such as these 
dictate a critical need to manage and conserve water 
resources properly (Christopher, 1988).  
 
 

 
 
*Corresponding author. E-mail: barnard.cad@yahoo.co.uk 

 
 
 
 

 
In order to adapt to water shortages, some changes are 

needed that will maintain or improve the ability of a 
system such as the municipal water supply to continue to 
serve its function (Ivey et al., 2004). Hence, problems 
relating to water are neither homogenous, nor constant or 
consistent over time. They often vary from one region to 
another, even within a single country, from one season to 
another, and also from one year to another (Biswas, 
2004).  

Solutions to water problems depend not only on water 
availability, but also on many other factors such as: the 
processes through which water is managed; competence 
and capacities of the institutions (private and 
government) that manage them; prevailing socio-political 
conditions that dictate water planning; development and 
management processes and practices (Ivey et al., 2004; 
Biswas, 2004); supply management (Ivey et al., 2004) 
appropriateness   and    implementation     status    of   
the    existing  legal frameworks; availability of investment 



Candice et al.     385 
 
 

 

funds; social and environmental conditions of the 
countries concerned; levels of available and usable 
technology; national, regional and international perce-
ptions; modes of governance including issues like political 
interferences, transparency, corruption, etc.; educational 
and development conditions and status; quality and 
relevance of research that are being conducted on the 
national, sub national and local water problems (Biswas, 
2004).  

The current trends indicate that water problems will 
continue become more and more complex conflicting or 
interfering with other developmental sectors such as 
energy, agriculture, mining, transportation and communi-
cations and with social sectors including education, 
environment, health, rural and regional development 
(Biswas, 2004). In addition, water demands are 
increasingly due to population growth, groundwater levels 
are dropping down, surface water supplies are 
increasingly contaminated and becoming threats to living 
beings, delivery and treatment infrastructures are aging 
(Wolf, 1999). According to the World Bank, it was 
estimated that it would take about $600 million dollars to 
repair and improve the world’s existing water delivery 
systems. 
 

 

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANCE ON WATER 
AVAILABILITY 
 

Access to potable water, sanitation and water for 
irrigation is already a serious problem in developing 
countries and is expected to even become more as 
population growth and climate change exacerbates 
existing inadequate delivery systems and dysfunctional 
management institutions. It stands to reason based on 
the predictions that water resources will be among the 
most affected sectors by change in the climate. When 
coupled with population growth and serious economic 
circumstances, climate change is an additional, highly 
uncertain and variable factor that exacerbates the 
difficulties in developing nations (Stachiv and Pietrowsky, 
2009).  

Climate change has many uncertainties, but generally, 
climate change can cause temperature increases, 
intensity of precipitation, storms, droughts and extreme 
events, change in average precipitation are less certain 
but will become more erratic and shifting season (Heath 
et al., 2010).  

Studies have shown that greenhouse warming will have 

major impacts on water resources and a s a results water 

scarcity is expected to become an ever-increasing problem 

in the future for various reasons. First, the distribution of 

precipitation in space and time is very uneven, leading to 

tremendous variability in water resources worldwide (Oki et 

al., 2006). For example, the driest place on earth, the 

Atacama Desert in Chile receives very slight annual 

quantities of rainfall each year while on the other hand; 

Mawsynram, Assam, India receives 

 
 
 
 

 

over 450 inches of rainfall annually. If all the freshwater 
on the planet were divided equally among the global 

population, there would be 5,000 to 6,000 m
3
 of water 

available for everyone, every year (Vorosmarty, 2000). 
Second, the rate of evaporation varies depending on the 
temperature and relative humidity, which impact the 
amount of water available to replenish groundwater 
supplies. The combination of shorter duration but more 
intense rainfall combined with increased evapo-
transpiration and increased irrigation is expected to lead 
to groundwater depletion (Konikow and Kendy, 2005). 
Possible impacts that may affect water planning and 
project evaluation include; change in precipitations and 
runoff patterns, sea level rise and land use and 
population shift may follow from the effects, warmer 
temperature will accelerate hydrologic cycles altering 
precipitation, the magnitude and timing of runoff, and the 
intensity and frequency of flood and droughts. Higher 
temperature will also increase the evapotranspiration 
rates and alter soil moisture and infiltration rates 
(Frederick and Major, 1997; Sullivan and Huntingford, 
2009).  

Climate change will impact water quality by: 

 

1) Increasing extreme precipitation and flooding, which 
will increase erosion rates and washing soil based 
pollutants and toxins into waterways.  
2) Contaminating coastal surface and groundwater 
resources due to sea level rise, resulting in saltwater 
intrusion into rivers, deltas, and aquifers.  
3) Increasing water temperatures, leading to more algal 
and bacterial blooms that further contaminate water 
supplies.  
4) Contributing to environmental health risks associated 
with water. For instance, changes in precipitation patterns 
are likely to increase flooding, and as a result mobilize 
more pathogens and contaminants (Pacific Institute and 
United Nation Global Impact, 2009). 
 

 

WATER MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA 
 

Since 1994, the South African Government has 
undertaken important reforms aiming to address rural 
poverty and inequalities inherited from the past apartheid 
regime. Amongst other programs, it has adopted a new 
water legislation that promotes equity, sustainability, 
representatively and efficiency through water manage-
ment decentralization, new local and regional institutions, 
water users’ registration and licensing, and the 
emergence of water rights’ markets (Perret, 2002).  

The progressive South African water law (RSA, 1998) 
is expected to bring about fundamental changes in the 
way in which water is used and shared among different 
users. A major aim is to ensure a better balance between 
efficiency, sustainability and equity needs in water 
allocations (Levite et al., 2003). Water must be 
guaranteed for all, especially to meet the basic human 



386    Afr. J.  Envir. Econ. Manage. 
 

 
 

 
Table 1. Water access and usage among racial groups.  

 
 

Groups Poverty rate of individuals (%) 
Percentage shares of 

 

 

Population Poor individuals 
 

   
 

 Blacks 54.8 80.1 93.3 
 

 Coloured 34.2 8.7 6.3 
 

 Indians 7.1 2.5 0.4 
 

 Whites 0.4 8.6 0.1 
 

 All 47.1 100.0 100.0 
 

 

 

needs of poor people in rural areas who have been 
disadvantaged for so long. Furthermore, water cannot be 
simply allocated to meet the increased demand from 
agriculture, industry and other productive sectors but 
must also satisfy the requirements of aquatic ecosystems 
and the ecological reserve. Finally, responsibility for 
decision-making in respect of water allocations will be 
decentralized to the level of the future catchment 
management agencies (CMAs). A system of authori-
zations for water abstractions is foreseen with 
compulsory licensing when the basin is water stressed 
(Levite et al., 2003). 
 

 

RURAL POVERTY - THE LEGACY OF 
DISCRIMINATION POLICIES 

 

South Africa is a lower middle-income country in which 
agriculture accounts for a particularly low share of GDP 
compared to most other countries of its category. 
Although it has a well-performing commercial sector, 
agriculture represents less than 4% of GDP and 14% of 
the labor force (Perret, 2002). Moreover, irrigated 
agriculture and stock watering use about 52% of total 
water usage (Table 1). The rural population of South 
Africa is composed of approximately 1.5 million 
households living on commercial farms (mainly white) 
and 2.3 million households living in the former 
homelands. Approximately half the country’s population 
lives in rural areas, and poverty rates are higher there 
than elsewhere. Poverty is race-related (Table 1). Three 
out of five children in South Africa live in poor 
households. Households headed by women are more 
likely to live in poverty than households headed by men 
(Perret, 2002).  

These persistent traits have several causes of which 
some are directly derives from the past apartheid policy. 
It excluded black people from owning or renting land 
outside the country that was delineated as reserves. 
Moreover, today, land still remains mostly state-owned, 
and is granted to users through traditional authorities and 
regulations. These areas are typically poor rural areas, 
where many people live under conditions of deprivation 
as harsh as elsewhere in poorer African countries. 
Apartheid involved incentives, laws and institutions that 
favored large farms and discriminated against smaller, 

 
 

labor intensive farming systems (Perret, 2002). Apartheid 
also gave large white farms privileged access to natural 
resources, financial and agribusiness facilities, and rural 
infrastructures. 
 

 

WATER RESOURCE - SCARCE AND UNEVENLY 
DISTRIBUTED 

 

South Africa is a water scarce country, due to its low 
average annual precipitation, and the unevenness of 
surface and groundwater distribution which is a result of 
climate and geography and only 8.6% of rainfall converts 
to useable runoff, the lowest proportion in the world. 
About 14 million rural and suburban black South Africans 
still do not have access to running water in their homes. 
Rural women have to walk long distances to collect 
domestic water from rivers or water points.  

Water resource management is crucial for food and 
ecological security. Despite the importance water 
assumes in overall human development, it is among them 
most mismanaged resources, especially in the context of 
developing countries including South Africa. Neglect of 
this important resource has resulted in severe food 
security problems at the household level and environ-
mental degradation of enormous proportions (Reddy, 
2002). The recent national water policy document lacks 
substances, direction and seriousness in addressing the 
real issues pertaining to water. It is a sad reflection of the 
status of water resources in the country. It narrates only 
the issues or problem areas, which are widely known and 
acknowledged. But it is silent on the more important 
aspects of how to go about tackling the problems. 
Moreover, it does not provide any new insights or 
approaches (Reddy, 2002). 
 

 

ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS AND POLICY MAKING ON 
WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH 
AFRICA 

 

Resource management practice indicates a great diver-
sity of ways in which individual choices and action are 
coordinated to balance needs and interests of users with 
the capacity of the resource system (Maarleveld and 
Dangb´egnon, 1999; Veeman and Politylo, 2002). 



Candice et al.     387 
 
 

 

Institutional arrangements (government and private 
sectors) governing the water sector are undergoing 
remarkable changes and improving the current state of 
water management in South Africa (Saleth and Dinar, 
2000; Veeman and Politylo, 2002; Wostl et al., 2007). 
Strengthening institutions and policy makers for the use 
and management of natural capital such as water is vital 
in enhancing economic development and alleviating 
poverty in South Africa (Veeman and Politylo, 2002; 
Wohlwend, 2007). 
 
 
WATER LEGISLATION IN SOUTH AFRICA 
 

In South Africa, water legislation draws on old standing 
traditions (water tribal), local customs and rules of 
conduct. Water legislation is not an end in itself but it is 
one of the various instruments (enforcement on water 
use, policy making, and water regulation) of giving effect 
to the water policies which it should reflect (Saleth and 
Dinar, 2000). Accordingly, legislation which is not 
preceded by, or does not explicitly involve the adoption of 
certain policies, is unlikely to be effective and non 
functional (Le Moigne et al., 1997). The policies may be 
adopted before the legislation and may even originate 
with another governmental body. To these two factors, 
namely, policies and legislation, a third policy should be 
added which can be: A water development plant for each 
country, and if necessary, specific planning for some river 
basins or ground water aquifers should also be included 
(Le Moigne et al., 1997). In South Africa water legislation 
have been reviewed based on certain hazards, 
community conflicts or specific uses through the following 
stages: 
 
1) Legislation oriented towards certain hazards deriving 
from the existence use of water or water run-off 
(regulations on flood control, natural run-off of rain-water, 
and construction of wells.  
2) Legislation oriented towards particular uses of water 
(laws on the supply of potable water, irrigation, river 
navigation, energy, industry, fish breeding)  
3) Legislation oriented towards multiple uses of water and 
conservation of water as a resource, such legislation 
being concerned primarily with water and the coordination 
of its uses and secondarily with the particular uses 
themselves;  
4) Legislation oriented towards the joint management of 
various natural resources, which takes into account and 
regulates the interdependence of water and other natural 
resources (soils, forest, etc)  
5) Legislation oriented towards the environment and 
dealing with water and other natural resources. 
 
The Department of Water Affairs has a division known as 
the National Water Resource Strategy and its aim is to: 
 

1) Facilitate the proper management of the nation’s water 

 
 
 
 

 

resources; provide a framework for the protection, use, 
development, conservation, management and control of 
water resources for the country as a whole  
2) Provide a framework within which water will be 
managed at regional or catchment level in defined water 
management areas and  
3) Provide information about all aspects of water 
resource management,  
4) Identify water-related development opportunities and 
constraints (DWA, 1998; Seward et al., 2006). 

 

Table 1 indicates water accessibility and usage among 
radial group, advantage and disadvantage groups. The 
table shows that blacks are the leading group with high 
rate of poor individuals (54.8%) and is the most leading 
group in terms of population (93%). White individuals are 
the least group affected by poverty with only percentage 
of 0.4%. Indian individuals are the less populated group 
in South Africa with percentage of 2.5%.  

In Figure 1, it can be shown that most of African 
countries are water stress. Looking at South Africa 
specifically, in 1990, water availability per human capita 

was about between 1000 and 2000 m
3
 which shows that 

already South Africa is in water stress situation. 
According to this figure, it is predicated that in 2025, 
almost all African countries will be vulnerable in terms of 
water availability. There are some many factors affecting 
water availability and these factors are different 
depending on the countries. Population influx, agriculture, 
developments are the major factors relating to water 
scarcity. Another factor that cannot be predicated and 
controlled and may negatively affect water availability is 
climate change.  

Figure 2 indicates the allocation of water use in South 
Africa. In this figure, 52% of water allocation is used for 
agricultural activities while only 10% is allocated for 
domestic use. This huge imbalance in terms of water 
allocation and use indicates that, here are no proper 
legislations on water resource management in South 
Africa. It seems as if agricultural activities are being 
considered seriously than human activities. Well, this may 
be due to economic benefit; hence it looks inappropriate 
as human lives should be the main concern. 
 

Figure 3 indicates water usage in high income suburbs 
of South Africa. As previously, it looks inappropriate to 
use more water on gardening and less for human 
consumption. When looking at the figure 50% of water is 
used for gardening and only 2% is used for drinking and 
cooking. This is inappropriate. South Africa has serious 
problems when it comes to policy making on water 
resource management. There is a lot that need to be 
done in terms of implementation of new legislation on 
integrated water resources management. Individuals 
living poor lives wish to have just a cup of clean water 
while other are using more that of that clean water to 
decorate their houses. Is there any fairness in this? Well, 



388     Afr. J.  Envir. Econ. Manage. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Figure 1. Water situations in Africa including South Africa (Fischer and Heilig 1997). 
 

 

the answers lie in the hand of policy makers and politics. 
In Figure 4, it can be seen that most of African  

countries are water stress. South Africa is already in 
water scarcity (less that 1000m3 per capita per year). 
There are some many factors affecting water availability 
and these factors are different depending on the 
countries. In South Africa, population influx, agriculture, 
developments (mining, industries) are the major factors 

 
 

 

relating to water scarcity. Another factor that cannot be 
predicated and controlled and may negatively affect water 
availability is climate change. 
 

 

WATER USE AMONG RACIAL GROUPS 

 

Water scarcity is becoming an  increasing problem 



Candice et al.     389 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Figure 2. Water allocation and usage in South Africa 
(Jacobson, 2003)  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Figure 3. Domestic water usage in high income suburbs of South Africa 
(www.capetown.gov.za). 

 
 

 

worldwide. Over the next few years, an increasing 
population demand and increasing water use demand will 
put more pressure on global water resources. By 2025, 
million of people living in South Africa (SA) will live in 
country with absolute water scarcity (Figures 1 and 4). 
This means that they will not have sufficient water 
resources to maintain their current level of per capita for 
domestic purposes. This seems to be a global problem 
especially in African countries. It has been estimated that 
a population of nearly 200 million people is facing serious 
water shortages by the 2025 (Figure 4). Nearly 230 
million Africans including South Africans will be facing 
water scarcity, and 460 million will live in water-stressed 
countries as indicated in Figure 1. 

 
 
 

 

In South Africa there is an imbalance in terms of water 
allocations and use among different racial groups. Table 
1 gives an overview on how water is used amongst racial 
groups, advantaged and disadvantaged people. Looking 
at Table 1 blacks are dominant populated group in South 
Africa, having percentage of 80.1% while Indians being 
the least populated (2.5%). In this 80; 54.8% of black 
individuals are faced with poverty and with no access to 
potable drinking water. White individuals are the least 
affected with only 0.4% are affected with poverty and 
have access to potable water. Then, when it comes to 
percentage share of population and poor individuals; 
black individuals still lead the groups, having the highest 
percentage of 93% of poor individuals while white 



390     Afr. J.  Envir. Econ. Manage. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Figure 4. Water stress and scarcity in Africa including South Africa by 2025 (Fischer and Heilig 1997). 

 
 
 
individuals only have 0.1% followed by Indian group with 
percentage of 0.4% (Table 1). 
 

 

WATER ALLOCATION AND USAGE IN SOUTH 
AFRICA 

 

The percentage of water usage for agriculture and 
irrigation is 52% and only 10% is used for domestic use in 
South Africa (Figure 2). Additionally, the water usage for 
gardening is 50% and only 2% is used for drinking and 
cooking in high income suburbs of South Africa and those 
are the cities where many white individuals live (Figure 
3). With all these results in terms of water allocation and 
use in South Africa; one could ask: Why is there such a 
huge imbalance in terms of access 

 
 
 
 

to natural capitals such as water between racial, 
advantaged and disadvantaged groups in South Africa? 
The answer lies within the political powers; the poorer 
you are, the lesser you get and the easier you are 
forgotten, but the richer and powerful you are the more 
you get and have access to good living. South Africa still 
has a lot to do in term of implementation of new 
strategies on water resources management. 
 
 
Implementation of new strategies to improve water 
resources management in South Africa 
 
Water scarcity has become a significant threat to human 
well-being; a danger of the water scarcity narrative is that, 
it obscures issues concerning unequal access to and 
control over water (Mehta, 2000). While freshwater 



Candice et al.     391 
 
 

 

supplies are clearly limited, for most people water scarcity 
is caused by competition between water uses and by 
political, technological and economic barriers that limit 
their access to water (Falkenmark and Lundqvist, 1998). 
 

The serious inequality in access to and control over 
water and the conflicts between the different uses and 
users of water lie at the heart of the need for new 
approaches to water management. This need is widely 
recognized as is the belief that existing institutional 
arrangements for water management are inappropriate 
and a major constraint for achieving sustainable water 
management. To make the transition to more sustainable 
water management, most analysts recommend managing 
water based on river basins and increasing stakeholder 
participation in water management (Wester et al, 2003).  

In South Africa, poor people are typically deprived of 
the benefits of water. They are the only people who suffer 
from life-threatening water-scarcity. Poor people are also 
more vulnerable for the adversities. Poverty, defined as a 
state and process of multi-dimensional deprivation 
affecting economic, health-related, psychological, socio-
cultural, legal, and political facets of wellbeing (World 
Bank, 2000/2001) is manifest in society development and 
management of water resources in at least three ways: 
First, poor people lack the technological assets to access 
water. The lack of efficient access to available water 
resources have lead them to drink water of low quality 
against excessive labor or cash costs, especially during 
periods of drought. The same holds true for productive 
water use, for example for cropping.  

Ineffective water policies and inefficient water 
infrastructures seriously disrupt societies as well as the 
environment. For effective and adequately management 
of natural capitals in South Africa, the following policies or 
legislations need to be revised: 

 

1) Legislation oriented towards particular uses of water 
(laws on the supply of potable water, irrigation, river 
navigation, energy, industry, and fish breeding).  
2) Legislation oriented towards multiple uses of water and 
conservation of water as a resource, such legislation 
being concerned primarily with water and the coordination 
of its uses and secondarily with the particular uses 
themselves;  
3) Legislation oriented towards the joint management 
(public, private, stakeholders) of water use and allocation. 
This is a serious problem in South Africa as it has been 
seen in Figures 2 and 3 that agriculture and gardening 
seem to be the priority with high demand of water use as  
opposes to human activities. Legislation oriented towards 
the environment and dealing with water and other natural 
resources;  
4) The involvement of communities during policy making 
can assist in understanding the demands (especially the 
basics) that the communities require. In addition 
empowering the communities on conservation 

 
 
 
 

 

management can aid in lessening mismanagement or 
misuse of natural resources (water). 
 

 

IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ON 
ADEQUATE WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 

 

Politics play major role during the implementation of 
policy making in South Africa. Hence, this affects the 
proper management of water resources due to debates 
on water allocation to South African individuals. It is the 
fact that the poor individuals do not benefit much in terms 
of access to natural resources such as water due to 
political activities. There is a subsidiary group called 
water allocation monitoring index in South Africa 
assigned by the Department of water affairs. The main 
role of this group is to ensure that every South African 
has access to potable water. However, this group seems 
not in existence, since some if not most South Africans 
“mostly the poorer” still do not have access to potable 
water. Is this group discriminating or could the inefficient 
operation of this group have to do with politics and 
money?  

The interaction between economics and the 
environment through institutions is important to resource 
and environmental economics because, in presiding over 
the establishment of economic institutions, governments 
or other responsible agencies implicitly direct behavior 
with respect to resource use (Saleth and Dinar, 2000; 
Adler, 2005). Thus, any discussion of sustainable 
development and the conservation of natural capital 
should provide explicit treatment of economic institutions 
and their role in creating the necessary incentives to 
achieve these objectives (Wolf, 1999; Veeman and 
Politylo, 2002). The design and functioning of institutions 
will therefore determine the manner in which resources 
are allocated and how the income derived through 
resource management is distributed. The opportunity and 
transactions costs of institutional changes are not static 
but change continuously due to the effects of institutional 
inter-linkages as well as the impact of changes both in 
the endogenous (politics, racial groups, economy, 
population growth) and exogenous factors (impact of 
climate change on water availability) (Wolf, 1999). Since 
the magnitude of net benefits from institutional changes is 
a direct function of water scarcity, the economic urge for 
institutional change increases with each increase in water 
scarcity. Thus, as water scarcity becomes acute due to 
economic development or population growth, the real 
economic costs of inappropriate water institutions tend to 
rise (Saleth and Dinar, 2000). 
 

 

Self empowerment of poor individuals on water 
availability 

 

There is a saying that says “the poorer you are, the easily 



 
 
 

 

you are forgotten but the richer you are the most 
important you are in your community” This seems true, in 
South Africa, the most populated individuals are blacks 
and are the highest in terms of poverty rating. Most of this 
people have no proper housing, proper sanitation, no 
access to portable water; yes they are still sustaining 
themselves to live. They do not just sit back and say we 
are forgotten, they try hard to keep themselves alive, they 
even voice out to the government to remind them that 
they are forgotten. On the other hand, some sustain 
themselves by practicing indigenous knowledge when 
conditions are harsh for them. However, government and 
stakeholders in South Africa should be willing and in a 
position to assist poor individuals in improving the quality 
of their lives by supplying relevant and useful resources 
or tools that will aid them improve their lives. 
 

 

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE TO WATER 
AVAILABILITY: A WORLD PROBLEM 

 

Climate change is a major problem affecting water 
availability and other natural capitals. This is a global 
problem and difficult to handle as it’s not predictable. 
Extensive research on the impact of climate change on 
natural capitals including water is ongoing. With the help 
of new technologies and satellites that give signals on 
change in climate, it is promising that climate change can 
be controlled. But till then, people should be taught on 
control measures during harsh conditions. Hence, the 
questions are: are those who know on the impact of 
climate change on natural capitals send important 
information to those who do not know especially those in 
rural areas. Do richer and poorer individuals work 
together on control measures during unfavorable 
conditions (water scarcity), or are poor individuals being 
discriminated, does the government makes sure that 
every individual in South Africa? 
 

 

CONCLUSION 

 

Water is the commodity of life, without water many lives 
are being threatened. There are many challenges 
regarding water management in South Africa. This is 
mainly due to inadequate rainfall, hence mismanagement 
of water resources due to political breakdowns and racial 
groups also contribute to the problem. Some of the other 
challenges may include: limited physical resources, a 
rapid growing population, and stagnant economies. 
Complex challenges such as these, dictate a critical need 
to manage and conserve water resources properly. A lot 
still need to be done in terms of implementation of new 
strategies to combat some of the challenges negatively 
affecting proper water resources management in South 
Africa. In addition, legislations on water access and use 
need to be revised adequately to accommodate every 

  
392     Afr. J.  Envir. Econ. Manage. 

 
 

 

South African irrespective of race, poor or richer, 
educated or illiterate. The water allocation monitoring 
index in South Africa could play a vital role by promoting 
programs that will ensure all South African get access to 
domestic and drinking water. However, this group sees 
not functioning accordingly; this may be due to financial 
instability and political activities.  

Other institutions such as policy makers, legal boards 
should also strongly involve themselves during the 
implementation of strategies on integrated water resource 
management and adequately revising the existing 
policies on water usage and allocation in South Africa. 
Growth development and population increase are the 
major factors resulting in ineffective strategies on 
integrated water resource management. Therefore, 
existing policies should be revised consistently based on 
population growth and developments. Additionally, 
widespread poverty is the greatest barrier to systematic 
and proper adaptation. On the other hand, the impact of 
climate change may also the major factor affecting 
natural capitals such as water availability. 
 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

 

Authors thank Mr. Pramod Sinha, Department of Civil and 
Chemical Engineering, University of South Africa, for his 
drive and contributions throughout the writing of this 
paper and for his good quality mentorship. 
 

 
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