Q&A with water expert Anthony Turton

To what extent have the water mafia prolonged and exacerbated our water crisis?

The water mafia are nothing more than a manifestation of the politics of patronage. When the politics of patronage gets entrenched then wherever critical services need to be delivered, whether electricity or water, you start seeing the emergence of these criminal syndicates.

Are you concerned the water mafia will hit another level altogether in KwaZulu-Natal given the dominance there of the MK Party?

A:What has surprised me about KZN is that half the population has voted essentially for Jacob Zuma, who is a convicted felon and has been known to be a highly connected criminal. So I foresee the future of KZN as one in which things like the water mafia, energy mafia, pothole mafia will thrive and flourish under MK rule in KZN.

You think the election spells disaster in terms of ending the water crisis any time soon?

I think the essential thing is how do we create jobs and prosperity in South Africa. The politics of patronage is not about creating wealth for communities. It's about extracting wealth and redistributing wealth, not the creation of wealth. In order to do that you've got to attract capital, and I cannot see capital being attracted back into KZN under this kind of patronage politics, which is likely to become even more virulent now than we've seen in the past.

How will this impact the economy and exacerbate the water crisis?

As far as I'm concerned the prognosis for economic development in KZN is not good, and one of the consequences is going to be the acceleration of the breakdown of water infrastructure.

Would a coalition government excluding the MKP be much of an improvement in terms of the water crisis?

I'm fearful that MK would resort to guerrilla warfare to make KZN ungovernable, and we'd see an entrenchment of the water mafia type of thing with attacks on water and other infrastructure as we saw ahead of the 2021 riots.

Do you see the water crisis getting worse in other provinces as well?

The water factor is a national factor that plays out differently in different provinces. But  now we're talking another driver, which is the changed political dynamics, whether it's MK or any other political party. Under a changed political scenario the big question is can we restore investor confidence sufficiently to grow the economy and create jobs. Water delivery is a key subsidiary element.

You've been warning about the water crisis since at least 2008, haven't you?

It's generally accepted in the scientific community that our water crisis actually started in 2002, and it's not going to get any better unless we have strong political leadership. We've seen in Johannesburg, for example, where you've got very weak coalition government, how Johannesburg Water has started to unravel, and the erosion of water security. We're seeing the same thing happening in Port Elizabeth.

Is the water crisis likely to get better or worse under national and provincial coalition government?

Without a clear and agreed policy objective, worse. They're less likely to get on top of the water mafia and other criminal syndicates.