The constant media drum beat is that we live in a “water scarce region”.
According to the government, SA Weather Service, NMB Business Chamber and weather commentators; Gqeberha and the wider Eastern Cape face chronic water stress, exacerbated by recent drought and climate driven scarcity.
In short, they say that there is simply not enough water in the natural environment to meet all demands.
This cognitive bias, called the illusory truth effect, explains exactly why regularly repeating this information in the Herald and other media, can trick the brain into accepting that it as true. It is untrue!
As a media critic and independent thinker, I have regularly chirped in the Herald for years, saying the exact opposite.
There is plenty enough rainfall and dam storage to ensure NMB never runs dry.
Day Zero, as a concept, would never be considered, if NMBM stopped wasting and losing 63% of all treated water.
So I was pleasantly surprised on reading the front page of the Herald, June 11, to see the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) say, in their damning report on neighbouring Makana municipality’s ongoing water and sanitation crisis, that their crisis stems from systemic municipality failures, not scarcity.
The department of water and sanitation had confirmed to SAHRC that adequate bulk water was and is available in the region.
The inability of the Makana municipality is a violation of fundamental constitutional rights, caused not by water shortages but by a deep rooted breakdown in governance, accountability and infrastructure management.
This SAHRC report could just as equally be applied to the NMBM department of water and sanitation.
We do not live in a water scarce region.
We are governed by corrupt, self serving politicians who prioritise personal enrichment and patronage over public duty.
They use public office for private gain with devastating effects on the people they are meant to be serving.
The sooner voters wake up to this the better.
The November elections cannot come quick enough!
Free Marketeer