Introduction

 

Hello! My name is Ashley, and welcome my blog for the term. In the coming months, I'm going to research, write blog posts, and hopefully come away with a meaningful conclusion about water, and how access to it perpetuates social inequalities. Water is a basic human right, and every human deserves fair and equal access. Despite this, many political actors don't treat it as such. Whether through codified law or informal actions, water flows more freely for some than it does for others.

Throughout the coming months, I want explore the intersection of water provisioning and politics in Africa as a whole, but taking a particular focus on South Africa. South Africa is one of the most wealthy and developed countries in Africa. Despite this, it is not immune from water scarcity issues. I will explore the root drivers of water inequality in South Africa, drawing from the country's turbulent history to illustrate larger points about how power dynamics shape individual's access to water, both in South Africa and the continent as a whole.

South Africa became a British colony in 1806, although exploitative colonial dynamics with Europe existed since the 1600s. Relationships with settlers in South Africa have been marked by racism and oppression of Black South Africans, from the Dutch export of enslaved South Africans in the 18th century continuing through the British reign (Britannica). When Britain gained control of the nation, political leaders instituted a series of policies attempting to oppress Black people and create an elite, ruling class comprising of the White, English speaking minority. "Segregation became a distinctive feature of South African political, social, and economic life as whites addressed the 'native question.' Blacks were 'retribalized' and their ethnic differences highlighted" (Britannica). These policies formed the basis of apartheid, a socioeconomic policy that codified segregation and economic discrimination against non-white people. Apartheid was instituted by the British, but continued into South African independence, and wasn't fully repealed until the 1990s. The 90s began a transition into a post-apartheid South Africa, with the ushering in of the first Black president Nelson Mandela, and the granting of full legal rights for all citizens. While today all South Africans have equal protection under the law, and live in a constitutional democracy, the very recent history of racial segregation and exploitation has left an enduring legacy.

One of the manifestations of this legacy is in access to water. The National Water Act in 1998 during the transition era was set in place in attempt to ensure equal water rights for all. "The Act defines the state as the custodian of the nation's water resources and only water required to meet basic human needs and maintain environmental sustainability is guaranteed as a right" (Kemerink et al, 2000). While on paper, this act is intended to increase water access, the policy "is implemented and enforced in a society thick with historically-entrenched socio-economic and political inequities" (Kemerink et al, 2000). In future posts I will explore this act and its repercussions in further detail. This becomes a common theme in policies regarding development and water provisioning: there is often a dissonance between the stated intent behind a policy, and the real-world implementation of the policy. With a resource as essential as water, policy makers and leaders have to do better.

About the Author

I am a white American, studying in the UK. I have lived my entire life in the Global North, and have never experienced water scarcity firsthand. I come from an incredibly privileged background, and in this blog will be writing about the lives of people with very different circumstances than mine. I will be writing about race and power relations in countries that I have never been to and have no personal ties to, and will try my best to approach all issues delicately. I want to center the voices of Africans and academics educated on these issues, rather than my own opinions. While these topics require sensitivity and lots of research, that should not be a barrier to prevent us from writing and learning about them. People from wealthy, imperialist nations, like the US and the UK, actively benefit from the exploitation of people from the Global South, and as a direct result of these power dynamics, many Africans struggle with access to safe water. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on this history and its repercussions. In a rapidly globalizing world, these issues must be addressed in order to work towards greater equity amongst citizens.

Resources

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v37i4.16
https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa