Day zero approaching Cape Town.

Bloody hell quizqueen

No sweeping generalisations here then!
There are no easy solutions to a complex problem that’s taking place in a country/continent most of us know little about.
But whatever happened to compassion for our fellow human beings?

See previous posts from quizqueen

Today’s Telegraph reported on rhe situation. It seems they do have a plan. Also apparently there is water below Cape Town and one company has thousands of customers waiting to have a borehole drilled - so that supply will not last long!

In 1976 we had a severe drought in the uk with some rivers running dry and standpipes being used for water in some places. In 2012 for a while it seemed that might happen again, but luckily didn’t, although we were advised to share a shower! — we are not immune to drought in this country - all it takes is a long hot summer with no rain, and we are no better prepared for it than Capetown. . Let’s hope they have a good rainy season this year.

Desalination plants might be a good idea.

The African nations generally have corrupt, self seeking politicians in control. Aid money is syphoned off into Swiss Bank accounts so infrastructure projects never get off the ground. South Africa is like this. A small proportion of the population live extremely well while the great majority live in abject poverty without basics like running water.
We were in Zululand recently and against advice travelled off the beaten path and were saddened to see the squalor that so many had to put up with yet by contrast the (predominately white) areas were full of servants watering lawns and most houses had pools. It is a have and have not society. The aid that we send simply lines pockets.

From that perspective it rather sounds as if only a water crisis for the rich will get anything changed! Maybe, in that sense, this latest water crisis is "needed". It's always the poor who lose out: "rich what get the gravy and the poor what get the blame".

baggs wise words

GG, SA is experiencing the lowest rainfall since records began in 1904. It’s ludicrous to suggest that the problems they now face are their own fault or that they should have spent vast amounts of money on desalination plants or other solutions in order to prepare. Should the UK Govt. make a list of all natural disasters that have never happened to us and spend the NHS budget on preparations just in case they do occur?

Fitzy yes to your question about disaster planning but why on earth should they spend the NHS budget on thst?

????

This drought has lasted 4 years and nothing has been done in preparation.

In the view of our family in Cape Town, politics and corruption are at play as well. I mentioned Baggs' observation and was told that the rich are not suffering as they can afford to buy the water, have bore holes installed etc. DH's brother and family (not rich but not certainly not poor) are aware that they have been fortunate to date but are concerned that violence will ensue.

Perhaps expecting forward planning is unreasonable, as you suggest, fitzy, but SA should presumably be doing something about the water shortage now. Whatever is to 'blame', the answer is going to be same: do something about it. Or, in evolutionary terms: adapt.

I worry about all the other species in South Africa.

We also have potential starvation of polar bears, and birds in the arctic.

World wide disaster beginning with other species sharing the planet that we are trashing.

The problem with adapting is that it is happening too quickly for many species to learn to cope with it.

It does mean mass extinction.

What a happy thought on a miserable cold Saturday morning

Bags, I agree their govt. is a shambles but the comments in one or two posts here blaming the entire population of a continent for failing to anticipate an event that has not been replicated in recorded history is beyond ridiculous.
Meg - wrong answer! No to planning for all hugely unlikely disasters because to do so would probably cost all the money we have - not just the NHS budget.

DH and I are going to SA in four weeks and it is worrying not so much for us and the the measures that have been put in place but for all the communities affected by this ongoing drought. We have been told that bath plugs have been removed (rightly so) - cars would not be washed, again not a problem there, hand sanitizers would be in place in public loos/hotels etc as the tap water would be turned off and to shower for two minutes only each day. I suggested to our tour operator that perhaps we should cancel and book elsewhere but he said they are so reliant on tourism that it would destroy their economy and any chance of being able to buy water from outside should tourists decide not to go. I am wrestling with my conscience as to what would be best for the lovely people of SA.

cupcake1 the problem is localised to the Cape ... it's not the whole country - it's a big country as you probably realise.

My daughter is in Cape Town at the moment and approves of the "discipline of a one minute shower". I grew up in Durban and when I was a teenager there was a severe water shortage (and more than once if I recall) and we used to put a brick in the toilet cistern to only use half a flush.

On a slightly different note - taking a long deep bath just seems to "out of touch" nowadays generally. I mean, it's not green, you're lying in your own dirty water, it's expensive. I honestly believe that the next ablution evolution will be to mostly do away with baths. Some showers are so luxurious! My friend has one in her house that has three different options - one overhead ("rainfall"), a hand shower, and water jets that come out at chest height if you don't want to get your hair wet. It's just perfect.

It’s ludicrous to suggest that the problems they now face are their own fault or that they should have spent vast amounts of money on desalination plants or other solutions in order to prepare.
Why ludicrous - shouldn't we be looking at predictions for the future and plan accordingly? There are other parts of Africa where they have built desalination plants, they're not something new; there are around 20,000 around the world in various places.

failing to anticipate an event that has not been replicated in recorded history is beyond ridiculous.

"The worst drought since 1904"
But of course the population has increased somewhat since then and the demands for water substantially increased.

Fitzy illogical. And you’ve suddenly morphed from ‘natural disasters’ to ‘hugely unlikely disasters’.

I was actually involved in disaster planning at one stage in my career. And what was considered ‘hugely unlikely’ actually came to pass. Think Ebola, in this country. The two (or was it three) cases that were dealt with efficiently and effectively could have resulted in this disease spreading in the UK had there not been procedures put in place beforehand to deal with such eventualities.

I agree grannyknot baths are ‘out of touch’ I always shower and my bath just takes up space in the bathroom! We have been to SA many times and will only be around the Cape area for 5 days I just don’t want to further deplete this precious commodity for those who live and work there -hence my dilemma.

Jalima - agreed. But the level of rainfall is still the lowest recorded since records began. It’s just not sensible to direct limited resources away from athings we know will be needed to things we think are extremely unlikely to happen.

Meg - entirely logical. I was clearly referring to hugely unlikely natural disasters. As to the potential for an outbreak of ebola, I would say that we have recognised for some time that with international transport easily available, large populations, and the ever increasing risk of localised epidemics of a verity of diseases, the prospect of a pandemic is significant - so expenditure on preparing to combat that risk is money well spent. But I don’t think, for example, that we should spend UK tax money to prepare for the possibility of a drought of proportions exceeding those of any on record. That may happen - but if we have any spare money there are many other things we need to spend it on before we get to that one.

Contingency planning is a very good thing.

Since records began isn't all that long ago.