PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/40149 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-26 and may be subject to change. Catching the Crocodile: Organisational responses to water scarcity in South Africa’s Crocodile River Catchment Tobias Thabiso Schmitz ii iii Catching the Crocodile: Organisational responses to water scarcity in South Africa’s Crocodile River Catchment Een wetenschappelijke proeve op het gebied van de Sociale Wetenschappen PROEFSCHRIFT Ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. mr. S.C.J.J. Kortmann, volgens besluit van het College van Decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 28 mei 2008 om 15.30 precies door Tobias Thabiso Schmitz geboren op 27 juni 1963 te Roma ( Lesotho) iv Promotor: Prof. dr. P. Hoebink Co-promotor: Prof. dr. T. Dietz (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Manuscriptcommissie: Prof. Dr. R. Ruben Prof dr. L. de Haan (Afrika Studiecentrum, Leiden) Prof. dr. L. Vincent (Wageningen Universiteit) © Tobias Schmitz, The Hague, 2008-04-14 ISBN 97 8909023 0726 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij electronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieen, opnamen, of op enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur/uitgever. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the author/publisher. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... VII INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 THE EMERGENCE OF WATER SCARCITY AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL THEME .................................................. 1 The need for academic research into water scarcity .......................................................................... 8 Developing the analytic tools for water scarcity research .................................................................. 9 Selecting a case for research ............................................................................................................ 11 Research question and methodology ................................................................................................. 13 Central Research Question: .............................................................................................................. 13 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 14 EXPLORING THE DYNAMICS OF NATURAL RESOURCE SCARCITY: A FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH AND FOR POLICY ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 23 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Institutions – the concept .................................................................................................................. 26 Planned Intervention / Policy Implementation ............................................................................ 42 Scarcity: an overview of the debate .................................................................................................. 46 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 61 SCARCITY, ALLOCATION AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE SOUTH AFRICAN WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT ......................................................... 63 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 63 The global boom in water demand .................................................................................................... 64 The global boom in water supply ...................................................................................................... 74 Replumbing the planet ...................................................................................................................... 77 Organisational responses to scarcity: water demand management.................................................. 80 Organisational responses to scarcity: integrated water resources management ............................. 83 Problems in Integrated Water Resources Management .................................................................... 86 Organisational responses to scarcity: rainwater harvesting ............................................................ 87 Water Scarcity in South Africa .......................................................................................................... 88 The South African boom in water demand ........................................................................................ 93 The South African boom in water supply .......................................................................................... 94 The political transition and water resource management .............................................................. 102 Organisational responses to scarcity: water demand management................................................ 105 Responses to scarcity: integrated water resources management .................................................... 107 Organisational Responses to Scarcity: Water Harvesting .............................................................. 109 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 110 ORGANISATIONAL RESPONSES TO SCARCITY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL ................... 113 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 113 The evolution of water law in South Africa ..................................................................................... 115 Water management and the South African transition ..................................................................... 129 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 156 RESPONSES TO SCARCITY AT THE CATCHMENT LEVEL ....................................................... 159 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 159 THE CROCODILE RIVER CATCHMENT IN ITS PHYSICAL CONTEXT .......................................................... 160 KEY FEATURES OF THE CATCHMENT ..................................................................................................... 162 Urban development ......................................................................................................................... 162 White commercial irrigation development ...................................................................................... 172 Bophutatswana ................................................................................................................................ 177 WATER SUPPLY DEVELOPMENT IN THE CATCHMENT ............................................................................ 181 Phases of scarcity on the Witwatersrand ........................................................................................ 183 vi IMPLEMENTING CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT POLICY IN THE CROCODILE RIVER CATCHMENT .............. 193 Changes in the regional offices before 1996 ................................................................................... 193 The birth of catchment management policy .................................................................................... 197 Implementing catchment management policy ................................................................................. 201 Implementation at the intermediary level ....................................................................................... 205 Implementation at the ‘grassroots’ level......................................................................................... 210 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 214 REPONSES TO WATER SCARCITY IN THE HARTBEESPOORT AREA ................................. 217 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 217 HISTORICAL RESPONSES TO WATER SCARCITY IN HARTBEESPOORT ..................................................... 219 Building the Hartbeespoort dam ..................................................................................................... 223 Expropriation and ethnic depopulation .........................................................................................