Water is the foundation of life: we’re unable to survive without
it. But the problem is that water is scarce, and this country is
running out of it. More than 98% of South Africa’s water has
already been allocated, and this country is facing a severe
water crisis in the coming decade. We’re going to face
skyrocketing water prices, droughts due to climate change and
increasing competition over water – possibly leading to
conflict. Already a lack of access to water is leading to
service delivery protests around the country. This means that
water is a critical constraint to development. Today Greenpeace
Africa launches our latest report ‘Water hungry coal: Burning
South Africa’s water to produce electricity’, which paints an
ugly picture of how Eskom’s coal addiction and this country’s
water shortages are linked. In this kind of context, the choices
being made are crucial. But Eskom and the South African
government are making a clear (but very risky) energy choice in
favour of coal expansion, at the expense of a