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Articles by Anthony Turton
Anthony Turton | The ’26 election crisis: 1 015 water plants built on a broken promise
Comments Gift article Bookmark 0:00 Subscribers can listen to this article A decision to implement the indirect reuse model in the 1960s has now had direct implications for our current water crisis, writes the author. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Read this for free Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment.
Anthony Turton | Banned 2008 water warnings turn prophetic
I visited Cat Heaven in Cape Town – home to 22 rescues that you can have cake with 04 Apr PODCAST | The Odds in Our Favour: There’s no place for ego with Dr Imtiaz Sooliman 03 Apr They called him crazy. Now his urban farm is doing what Joburg could not 03 Apr Home like no other: 150 years of love, life, dignity at Cape Town’s Ladies...
Anthony Turton | The water-balancing act that nobody sees but everyone feels
Comments Gift article Bookmark 0:00 Subscribers can listen to this article The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) sustains as much as 45% of the population, 60% of the national economy, and a staggering 60% of the total national energy supply. PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images Read this for free Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial.
Afrique: Pourquoi l'eau est devenue un enjeu de pouvoir et de sécurité dans le continent
L'eau est souvent considérée comme allant de soi, lorsque l'on a la chance de la voir couler au robinet. Pourtant, elle est au coeur de la sécurité nationale. Contrôler l'eau signifie contrôler une ressource essentielle qui permet à l'économie de fonctionner et de rester stable. L'eau soutient l'emploi, les entreprises et les moyens de subsistance. Lorsqu'elle est bien gérée, l'économie des pays est plus forte et plus sûre.
Pourquoi l'eau est devenue un enjeu de pouvoir et de sécurité en Afrique
L’eau est souvent considérée comme allant de soi, lorsque l’on a la chance de la voir couler au robinet. Pourtant, elle est au cœur de la sécurité nationale. Contrôler l'eau signifie contrôler une ressource essentielle qui permet à l'économie de fonctionner et de rester stable. L'eau soutient l'emploi, les entreprises et les moyens de subsistance. Lorsqu'elle est bien gérée, l'économie des pays est plus forte et plus sûre.
How control of water shapes power and security in Africa
Water is often taken for granted, if you're lucky enough to have it coming out of taps. Yet it lies at the heart of national security. Controlling water means having control over a key resource that keeps an economy running and stable. Water supports jobs, businesses and livelihoods. When it is managed well, countries' economies are stronger and more secure. I'm an academic specialist in the field of trans-boundary rivers and national security.
How control of water shapes power and security in Africa
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How control of water shapes power and security in Africa
Water is often taken for granted, if you’re lucky enough to have it coming out of taps. Yet it lies at the heart of national security. Controlling water means having control over a key resource that keeps an economy running and stable. Water supports jobs, businesses and livelihoods. When it is managed well, countries’ economies are stronger and more secure.
Water is a mysterious thing. We just take it for granted. Few give it a thought, until it is no longer there. Nothing concentrates the mind more than when the taps suddenly run dry. Religion uses it for cleansing. To many, it is a gift from God. Billions regard it as a fundamental human right. Economists use the lack of it to measure the poverty of a community. Poets and authors write of it with passion and emotion. Fish swim in it and industrialised cities dispose of their waste into it.
Understanding the forces at play in Gauteng's water sector
Sometimes signals can get mixed. This is certainly true in the South African water sector and is particularly true in Gauteng, which contains the bulk of the national economy. The big driver of water insecurity risk is population growth. South Africa’s population growth is exponential, having tripled in the last four decades. Don't want to see this? Remove ads The simple reality is that the total population has been growing at a rapid rate since before the democratic transition in 1994.
Was catastrophic collapse of a Gauteng water pipeline vandalism or sabotage?
The water supply system sustaining the Gauteng economy is complex and vast. Pipelines are big and cover long distances as water is pumped uphill from the Rand Water processing plant adjacent to the Vaal River. Pumps are big, and in need of constant maintenance and upgrading, but more importantly the pressures involved are high enough to be lethal if a pipe should fail. Don't want to see this?
South Africa: Avoiding Day Zero in Gauteng - A Comparison With Cape Town's Success Story
Maintaining water security in Gauteng will place growing demands on Rand Water. The Integrated Vaal River System sustains 45% of the South African population and 60% of the national economy. Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min The phrase "Day Zero" has come to mean that precise moment when a city's water supply is predicted to be depleted, leaving taps dry and local economies in crisis.
Avoiding Day Zero in Gauteng — a comparison with Cape Town’s success
The phrase “Day Zero” has come to mean that precise moment when a city’s water supply is predicted to be depleted, leaving taps dry and local economies in crisis. It entered the global lexicon in 2018 when the City of Cape Town was confronted with an acute water crisis. The actual Day Zero was estimated to be in April that year, with three different dates, depending on the models being used.
Water insecurity means Gauteng has reached its sustainable development limit
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. If we collectively want to experience a better quality of life in Gauteng, then we must commit to a 10% reduction in water consumption per capita in the province. Those of you who read my articles will know I often speak of the lucrative nature of applying inappropriate solutions to misdiagnosed problems in the South African water sector.
Water sector — shocking reality of systemic collapse laid bare
At the recent Presidential Water and Sanitation Indaba, the shocking reality of the systemic collapse of the water sector was laid bare for all to see. Reliable information from the Blue, Green and No Drop Reports indicates that more than 100 municipalities are dysfunctional. The impact of this dysfunction is failing infrastructure, deteriorating water quality, escalating costs, growing unreliability and the glaringly obvious inability of delinquent local authorities to fix what is broken.
Beware the economic destruction created by SA's water insecurity crisis
As a scientist, I have always been interested in process. From my earliest days as a small boy, I have always been highly inquisitive. As my formal education grew, so did my capacity to understand increasingly complex issues. As a professional, I simplify complex matters to predict with reasonable accuracy.
Potentially toxic red algal blooms will increasingly become the norm in SA
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. Rivers in South Africa are generally in distress. Dams are a critical part of the infrastructure needed to create water security by sustaining the jobs needed for social stability. We have become accustomed to seeing large water bodies covered in floating aquatic weeds.
New water sector funding models will boost service delivery
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. It is also said that ingenuity happens on the cusp of chaos. Both are true. They are also applicable to the South African water sector, where systemic failure is ravaging the economy. There is some good news, however, but first let us describe the problem. It is public knowledge that municipalities are under pressure. Almost all face severe service delivery constraints from which none are exempt.
Understanding the sewage challenge facing Gauteng’s water supply
It is common knowledge that South Africa is facing a sewage crisis. We see it playing out in different parts of the country in different ways. Cape Town is increasingly in the news as the human health impact of direct exposure to sewage manifests as medical emergencies. Durban is shuddering under the domino effect of infrastructure failure. Don't want to see this? Remove ads However, in terms of national impact, Gauteng is the epicentre, with Rand Water increasingly being the last line of defence.
Despite massive challenges, Rand Water remains a good news story
There is much doom and gloom to write about at present. This is a challenge to a glass-half-full kind of guy, which is why it is exciting to discover the few gems that still exist. Rand Water is one of those gems. Let me tell you why. As an institution, Rand Water provides bulk potable water to more than 18 million people across four provinces, namely Gauteng, some parts of North West, Mpumalanga and Free State. That is an impressive geographic footprint spanning an area of more than 37,000km².
Water quality – don’t demonise scientists when politicians misunderstand their message
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. For Blue Flag beaches to be reliably reported as safe, statistically representative sampling must be applied through a scientifically robust protocol that will restore public trust. The past two weeks have been characterised by a raging debate over sampling protocols for water quality in large water bodies.
South Africa: From Crisis to Case Study - Cape Town's Struggle With Sewage and Urbanisation Dynamics
If Cape Town successfully deals with its complex and escalating sewage problem, it could provide a roadmap for other cities. Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min Those who follow my work will know that I have been acutely interested in state failure as a concept. Way back in 2008 I posed a question at an academic conference held at Unisa, about whether South Africa would become a failed state, citing global water scarcity data that placed us in the highest risk category.
What Cape Town teaches us about the national sewage crisis
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. If Cape Town successfully deals with its complex and escalating sewage problem, it could provide a roadmap for other cities. Those who follow my work will know that I have been acutely interested in state failure as a concept.
The potent weapon of non-payment as resistance in South Africa, then and now
It is said by people wiser than me that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Whether this is valid or not is an open question, but there is certainly a lot of evidence to suggest that it is true. Today we live in a world awash with information. We can safely say that at no time in the history of humankind was more information available to the average citizen than it is today. Don't want to see this?
Anthony Turton | Blame-shifting by municipalities nudges Gauteng closer to Day Zero
You have 5 articles to share every month. Send this story to a friend! Enter recipient email address This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Read this for free South Africans need to be in the know if we want to create a prosperous future. News24 has kept the country informed for 25 years, and we're about to enter a new chapter of fearless journalism.
Gauteng urgently needs to cut water use by 10% or face Day Zero
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. Gauteng water consumption is simply unsustainable under present patterns of use. Putting it bluntly, the province faces Day Zero, and that is an undeniable fact. In June this year the Platform for a Water Secure Gauteng (PWSG) was launched.
Anthony Turton | Are we witnessing a new pattern of blue-green algae activity?
South Africa needs to constantly invest in the science, engineering and technology, which will enable us to mitigate the growing risk of cyanotoxin in our drinking water systems. But this means the constant need to upgrade our monitoring and reporting protocols, writes Anthony Turton. Some weeks ago, I wrote a piece in which I suggested that the rate of change we are witnessing in our aquatic ecosystems has the potential to overwhelm our institutional capacity to cope.
The advancing onslaught of toxic red algae blooms in our freshwater systems
It is a well-known fact that South African rivers are in poor health. The Green Drop report paints a woeful picture of neglect. One of the major drivers of this process is enrichment of the water by nutrients – typically phosphate and forms of nitrogen such as ammonia – all of which is well documented in scientific literature that the average citizen will never read. Society seems to have shrugged this off as somehow being the new normal.
Despite vagaries of nature, water security can be achieved through clearly communicated, coherent policy decisions
Two events have occurred in my professional life that have led me to believe that the future of humanity lies in our capacity to co-evolve with nature. I was first introduced to this concept during a conference at Oxford University in 1999 when I met Dr Erik Swyngedouw. At that same event was another young South African PhD student named Gina Ziervogel. Erik Swyngedouw was a rising star in the intellectual world of political ecology.
Anthony Turton | The revenge effect of urban wastewater
You have 5 articles to share every month. Send this story to a friend! Enter recipient email address This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Subscribers can listen to this article The revenge effect of urban wastewater will become the driver of political change as an increasingly savvy population becomes aware of the health risks they face, argues Anthony Turton.
nature-based solutions may be answer
The sewage crisis taking place in Britain is an important inflexion point for many reasons. For those not following these events, many of the rivers in England are severely damaged by sewage return flows. The significance is that in 1830 the First Industrial Revolution ended in Britain, giving them a comparative advantage in international trade. This caused a massive migration of people following the new jobs in the cities.
Platform for water in Gauteng is a rebirth of hope
The recent election was a pivotal moment. The nation exercised its collective constitutional right, delivering a clear message. The results show a fractured society with no clear majority. It also reveals a plethora of parties, often too small to make a real difference, ushering in the second government of national unity (GNU). Are we now in the Era of the Rebirth of Hope?
Mchunu, TCTA donate 40 homes to Kgubetswana families Original
Minister Senzo Mchunu, along with the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), has donated 40 homes to Kgubetswana Township families in Clarens, Free State. Source: x.com. Minister Senzo Mchunu. The residential houses were built by TCTA as accommodation for out-of-town staff members working on the construction of the Ash River Outfall during the implementation of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase 1 (LHWP-1).
Anthony Turton | Reinventing our future in a water constrained country
Two mining companies are proving to be a beacon of hope. They have stepped up to the plate and volunteered their assistance to a distressed municipality. In both cases, the impact has been significant, potentially measurable, and beneficial to society as a whole, writes Anthony Turton. A couple of years ago, I gave a TEDx talk in Cape Town in which I spoke of the creativity of the mining industry and its ability to reinvent itself as a useful partner for rehabilitation in a post-mining landscape.
Call for a National Register of Polluters
Search jobs Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, has vowed to tackle the pollution of the environment and water sources as the Vaal River continues to battle with invasive alien plants. Image source: kozorog – 123RF.com Mchunu said the country needs to have a National Register of Polluters to deal with the pollution of the environment and water sources across South Africa. He said a National Register of Polluters was necessary to make people account for their transgressions.
How Centurion Lake became a man-made disaster
Professor Anthony Turton is a water expert with the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. The air is pungent with the smell of decaying faecal matter, the fountains no longer play music, and the night shows are unable to attract the crowds that used to keep the restaurants full. During my national water security career I had the privilege of travelling widely.
Anthony Turton | Vaal River water lettuce saga: Is it time for a new strategy?
Vigorous attempts are under way to remove the offending water lettuce from the Vaal River, typically driven by public anger, sometimes manifesting as industrial-scale action. But this will result in a win-lose dynamic, writes Anthony Turton. The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting a different outcome. This simple statement encapsulates the essential element of success for any government, which is the ability to self-correct through policy reform.
Pecanwood leads the way in mitigating risk from eutrophic waters
4 min read It is true that the value of real estate is impacted by the environment in which the development takes place. Proximity to water is an enhancing feature. Residential homes immediately adjacent to the Onrus River Estuary in Hermanus are at least R1.5 million more valuable than houses built in the second row. Aquatic ecosystems have a material impact on the investment value of both residential and commercial real estate.
“Little algae shark” discovered in Pecanwood wetland
by Prof Anthony Turton A citizen scientist, long involved in the Hartbeespoort Dam Integrated Biological Remediation Programme recently made a significant discovery of a microscopic filter feeder, with the grand name of Paradileptus conicus. It is like a tiny basking shark spiralling through the water, consuming bacteria and algae along the way. The interesting aspect of this little fellow is that they are not common in South Africa.
Anthony Turton | Our dwindling national innovation capability | News24
In half a decade South Africa has gone from being a world leader in the treatment of sewage to becoming the victim of a tsunami of untreated sewage, overwhelming our rivers, and threatening the very foundation of our national economy, writes Anthony Turton. I recently wrote about ingenuity as a key element in making rich countries rich, and keeping poor countries poor, using a model developed by a Canadian named Thomas Homer-Dixon.
Cyanobacteria discoveries show critical changes in SA waterways
South Africa is facing a water resource management crisis. This is playing out in various forms. Disruptions to water service delivery are occurring in major metros like eThekwini, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni; the rapid growth of an invasive species of floating plant on the Vaal River known as water lettuce has triggered public anger; and the Blue Drop reports show the extent to which our wastewater works have broken down, discharging vast quantities of untreated sewage into our rivers.
South Africa's water crisis
Anthony Turton, an expert in water resource management, outlines the extent of the water crisis in South Africa.
Anthony Turton | Pecanwood Estate experiment leads to discovery of new species of microfauna
Our knowledge of how to manage eutrophic ecosystems such as the one at Peacanwood Estate at Hartbeespoort Dam is growing as we start to embrace the emerging notion of nature-based-solutions, which includes artificially constructed wetlands, while rejecting chemical sprays, writes Anthony Turton. There has been so much doom and gloom emerging from the water sector that it is refreshing to learn of an exciting new discovery at Hartbeespoort Dam.
ANTHONY TURTON | We need to self-correct, make logical decisions to ensure water security
On May 30 2008, I was a guest speaker at the 10th Africa Day Conference hosted by Unisa in Pretoria. That was the first time I asked whether SA could become a failed state, citing international data on water scarcity. The evidence I cited was visually powerful, but incomplete, so uncompelling. Yet that data confirmed the work we had been doing at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research after the publication of the national water resource strategy (NWRS) in 2002.
SA faces serious health risks from sewage discharge in waterways
DISCHARGE CRISIS OP-ED South Africa produces over seven billion litres of sewage daily, with about 90% of that being released to rivers and the ocean in a partially treated format. It’s driving major change to our aquatic ecosystems including the acceleration of the process of enrichment, eutrophication. How much raw sewage can we discharge into our rivers and wetlands before we start to see serious human health risks?
‘Forever chemicals’ are polluting African waters: Lake Victoria, SA’s Vaal and Kenya’s Nairobi rivers are hotspots
Advertise your job vacancies 2 days7 days30 daysBy Industry Show more Every week seems to bring a new report about where “forever chemicals” have been found: in soil, drinking water, our bodies and marine animals. Their proper scientific name is perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). But they’re more commonly called “forever chemicals” because, once they’re in an environment, they almost never break down.
Anthony Turton | What took 50 years to occur in Hartbeespoort Dam, took only 3 years in the Vaal
In 2021, water lettuce had never been heard of in the Vaal. Three years later, it has totally dominated the system, writes Anthony Turton. In my lifetime, South Africa transitioned from a mining and agricultural economy, to an industrialised one. This process made South Africa the only African country with a manufacturing component to it. The epicentre of this process was undoubtedly what became known as the Pretoria Witwatersrand Vereeniging (PWV) Triangle.
Momentum lacks vision
South Africa and Australia, both arid countries with historical ties to the British Empire, face significant water management challenges. Despite common legal and parliamentary systems, the two nations diverge in their approaches to water sector governance, leading to markedly different outcomes in economic prosperity. In examining disparities, it is evident that contemporary South Africa is grappling with a scenario resembling a failed state.
Forum to address Vaal River pollution Original
Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, Sello Seitlholo, is set to launch the Vaal River Anti-Pollution Forum, which is aimed at addressing long-standing pollution affecting water quality in the Vaal River.
OPINION: SA can learn from Australia in dealing with water governance
South Africa and Australia, both arid countries with historical ties to the British Empire, face significant water management problems. Despite common legal and parliamentary systems, the two nations diverge in their approaches to water sector governance, leading to markedly different outcomes in economic prosperity.
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