The Southern Africa Water Wire

CAPE TOWN, South Africa

Water Debt and Leaks Plague City Residents

By Brendon Bosworth
Nokuzola Bulana has a problem with leaks. The water that drips from the pipes of the toilet outside her home in Khayelitsha, a large semi-informal township on the fringes of Cape Town, South Africa goes to waste and drives up her water bill.

Growing Peas and Greens to Maximise Water Usage

By Miriam Gathigah
Amid warnings that Kenya’s agricultural water use is surpassing sustainable levels and adversely affecting food security, biodiversity researchers say that agrobiodiversity should be considered as a vital tool to combat this.

Kariba Dispossessed Still Waiting for Promised Better Life

By Garikai Chaunza
Fifty seven thousand people were displaced on the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides of the Zambezi River to make way for the construction of the Kariba hydroelectric dam.

How to Save a Fish … a Lake and a People

By Mabvuto Banda
Lloyd Phiri, a fisherman from Senga Bay on Lake Malawi’s shores in Malawi’s central region, knows that the lake’s water levels are dropping. He can see it in his catch, which has shrunk by more than 80 percent in recent years.

Villagers Become ‘Water Scavengers’

By Jeffrey Moyo
For the last 13 years, Trynos Mbweku, the headman of Mwenezi district in southeastern Zimbabwe, has had to use a cart to fetch water from the only remaining borehole in his area, which lies some 10 kilometres from his home.

Mauritians Unprepared for Effects of Climate Change

By Nasseem Ackbarally
Mauritius may be one of the best-prepared countries in the world when it comes to cyclones, but recent heavy rains and flooding due to climate change have brought the country’s readiness for coping with increased rainfall into question. 

Beitbridge Still Counting the Cost of Floods

By Ish Mafundikwa
The Beitbridge area in southern Zimbabwe was hit by serious flooding earlier this year. Those affected are still trying to get back on their feet.

Electricity for All but Those the Kariba Dam Displaced

By Baboki Kayawe
Indigenous people who were displaced from the Zambezi Valley almost six decades ago for the construction of the Kariba Dam say they have not benefited from the development they made way for.

/UPDATE*/Boreholes, Boreholes Everywhere….And Not a Drop to Drink

By Mantoe Phakathi
Every day for the last four years, 52-year-old Tintfombi Msibi has had to walk past the borehole in her village of Ekuphakameni, one of the driest rural villages in southern Swaziland, to a dirty stream two kilometres away to collect drinking water.

Opening of Kariba Dam Floodgates Not Welcomed by All

By Garikai Chaunza
Almost every rainy season the floodgates of Kariba Dam have to be opened to relieve pressure on the dam wall. But despite warnings not to live or farm on the river banks of the Zambezi River downstream of the dam, some people do so anyway and end up losing their crops.

At the Bottom of Lake Nyasa is ‘Rare Earth’

By Thembi Mutch
The local Tanzanian community bordering Lake Nyasa is no nearer to understanding what the conflict between their country and Malawi is about, nor why so much is at stake, as mediation efforts between Malawi and Tanzania are expected to begin soon.   

Two Million People Hold their Breath Over Lake Malawi Mediation

By Mabvuto Banda
Over two million families who solely depend on Lake Malawi for their livelihoods are anxiously putting their hopes into an upcoming mediation between Malawi and Tanzania intended to put an end to a longstanding ownership dispute.

Water – A Blessing and a Curse in Mozambique

By William Mapote
As Mozambique tries to recover from the worst flooding here since 2000, experts have called for a national discussion on water management and how to maximise its usage in favour of long-term sustainable development.

Lake Malawi Dispute Instils Fear in Fisherfolk

By Mabvuto Banda
Since he was nine years old, Martin Mhango from Karonga village in northern Malawi has known no other livelihood than fishing. And for the last 33 years he has been fishing freely on Lake Malawi – that is, until last October when he was detained and beaten by Tanzanian security forces.



Water, Water Everywhere – and No Early Warning in Sight

By Ignatius Banda
Muzeka Muyeyekwa from Mapfekera Village in Zimbabwe’s  Manicaland Province wonders what he will feed his three children for lunch.
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