Thank you House Chair. Our country and the Southern Africa region more generally, is at a crossroads and our society will have to make radical changes in the way we view life if humanity is to be sustained. Humanity has exhausted its credit limit on life and we survive on overdraft. We are injudiciously using more resources than nature can replenish ... life on earth. We are unable to use the little natural resources we have in a sustainable manner and we are failing to recognise just how much of a mess we are in.
The precarious state of our water resources is only a natural outcome of the climate pit we have dug for ourselves. It is closely related to the depletion of biodiversity; the injudicious conversion of natural environments to agriculture; the dependence on finite fossil fuels for our energy needs; the proliferation of
synthetic fertilisers; and the horrendous pollution of both our fresh water resources as well as the atmosphere.
In summary, the drought we are now experiencing is a window to a not too distant future. It is the beginning of the end of life as we know it, unless dramatic actions are taken by the government to radically change the nature of production and consumption in society.
Tragic as this is, our government is either clueless about the gravity of the matter or as usual you are crippled by inertia. More natural areas are converted into, either commercial agriculture or game farming, depriving our society of the natural buffer to the impact of climate change.
Our fresh water resources are under severe threat, with unplanned buildings on critical wetland areas. Our rivers are polluted with industrial waste and companies are not held to account for their pollution of fresh water resources and ground water resources.
Municipalities are chronically unable to fix and maintain existing water infrastructure, leading to the country losing almost a trillion litres of water annually.
Farmers along big rivers such as the Orange River are illegally diverting water to their illegally constructed dams and the state has no capacity to monitor this or to hold them to account.
Swift and radical action is needed to secure our short and long-term access to water. Municipalities must be empowered and given resources to train and employ artisans on a massive scale to repair damaged water infrastructure so as to reduce water losses due to leaks. The national government must invest in up to date water infrastructure that will ensure not only access to water for households and businesses but also ensure that there are water treatment plants in each municipality to recycle and reuse water.
The department responsible for water management must employ state of the art fresh water resources to constantly improve the ecological health of our fresh
water resources, and report farmers who divert natural streams for their own illegally constructed dams. There must be tougher punishment for companies that pollute our rivers and wetlands, and they must be compelled by law to rehabilitate the ecological infrastructure they have damaged.
As a possible adaptation measure, we must fast-track research into and construction of desalination plants along the coast. South Africa is blessed with almost 3 000 kilometers of coastline and we should be using our scientific capacity to desalinate sea water to make it fit for human consumption. We need to make these interventions because the drought we now have is likely to become a permanent part of our lives for a very long time. [Applause.]