GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Water

The report assesses South Africa's water-stressed environment, highlighting the dominance of agricultural water demand and critical challenges such as non-revenue water losses and a severe shortage of technical skills. It details the governance roles of the Department of Water Affairs and various grants available for municipal infrastructure. In the Western Cape, the report identifies specific projects like the Berg River Improvement Plan and various wastewater treatment plant upgrades as key areas of activity and private sector opportunity.

• South Africa is highly water-stressed, ranked as the 30th driest country globally. Its water usage is composed of 77% surface water, 9% groundwater, and 14% re-use of return flows.
• The agricultural sector is the primary driver of water demand in South Africa. In the Western Cape specifically, irrigation accounts for 66.30% of total surface water used, followed by urban use at 21.70%.
• The sector faces significant operational challenges, notably non-revenue water—which constitutes approximately 36.8% of supplied water—and a critical lack of technical skills. Civil engineering capacity in local government has dropped from 20 engineers per 100,000 people before 1994 to just three per 100,000.
• Securing South Africa's water future is estimated to require R360 billion (approximately 15% of the country's GDP) over the next 15 years, primarily to maintain and increase the capacity of water treatment plants.
• The Western Cape employs various water security strategies, including six desalination plants and an artificial recharge scheme in Atlantis that provides roughly 30% of the area's groundwater supply.
• The Berg River Improvement Plan (BRIP), initiated in 2012, aims to address water quality and pollution in the Berg River through short-term (≤5 years) and long-term (5-30 years) actions, including a Water Stewardship Programme with six main tasks.
• Government funding for water projects is provided through several grants, including the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) for basic access, the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) for new bulk infrastructure, and the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) to fill funding gaps.

APA

GreenCape (2014). GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Water. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Water-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Water. 2014. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Water-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Water |date=2014 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Water-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2014greencape, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Water}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2014}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Water-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }