SOUTH AFRICA’S DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN THE WATER SECTOR: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?

The document examines South Africa's response to the 2015/2016 drought, the worst in 35 years, noting a systemic tendency toward remedial rather than preventative action. It highlights critical gaps in meteorological data gathering due to theft and vandalism of monitoring stations, and the failure of many municipalities to adopt water conservation strategies. The authors propose the adoption of a national drought policy, the updating of computer-generated operating rules for water supply, and the use of citizen-science data repositories to enhance forecasting capabilities.

• South African water-resource management is characterized by a reactive approach, where remedial interventions are implemented during droughts instead of proactive and preventative strategies.
• The 2015/2016 drought was the most severe in 35 years, driven by the strongest El Niño since 1997, leading eight of South Africa's nine provinces to be declared disaster areas.
• The capacity to forecast extreme weather events is being compromised by the theft and vandalism of river gauges and weather monitoring stations, coupled with a shrinking budget for their replacement.
• Municipalities struggle with significant water losses, with non-revenue water loss reaching up to 40% of the bulk water supply in large municipalities due to leaks and poor infrastructure maintenance.
• Urban household water consumption is high, with approximately 40% of water used for watering gardens, suggesting a need for policies that address individual habits continuously rather than just during restrictions.
• There is a disconnect between the ability of scientists to model drought incidence and the integration of that data into government and sectoral responses.
• To improve monitoring, the Water Research Commission (WRC) launched a citizen-science initiative in 2014 to gather rainfall records from private individuals, which requires further resources for verification and dissemination.

APA

Meissner, R., & Jacobs-Mata, I. (2016). SOUTH AFRICA’S DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN THE WATER SECTOR: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Policy-Briefing-155.pdf

Chicago

Meissner, Richard, and Inga Jacobs-Mata. SOUTH AFRICA’S DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN THE WATER SECTOR: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2016. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Policy-Briefing-155.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meissner |first1=Richard |last2=Jacobs-Mata |first2=Inga |title=SOUTH AFRICA’S DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN THE WATER SECTOR: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2016 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Policy-Briefing-155.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meissner2016south, author = {Meissner, Richard and Jacobs-Mata, Inga}, title = {{SOUTH AFRICA’S DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS IN THE WATER SECTOR: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Policy-Briefing-155.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }