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IOL News
a day ago
- Science
- IOL News
Advancing Africa's water security through collaboration
A young girl carries yellow water jerry cans, a symbol of the hours spent searching for water in the Marsabit, Kenya on August 2, 2022. Prof. Sipho Seepe The University of Zululand and Chang'an University had the privilege of hosting the 2025 International Conference on Water Security and Sustainable Development. The three-day prestigious conference (23rd to 25th May 2025) brought together leading scientists, policymakers, industry experts, and stakeholders from around the world to address one of the most pressing challenges of water security. According to the United Nations, over two billion people live in water-stressed countries. The effects of climate change have led to a reduction in freshwater availability and climate-induced variability, resulting in an increase in drought in some regions and floods in diverse participant base underscores a global commitment to advancing scientific understanding to formulate practical solutions. This much was evident from an array of topics that were covered. These ranged from presentations on geothermal systems, climate change impacts, groundwater quality, depletion, and sustainability to antibiotic resistance in mining-affected waters. The conference also touched on agricultural water management and general water resource this end, the conference provided 'a vital platform for sharing cutting-edge research, innovative solutions, and collaborative strategies to enhance water security, improve governance, and promote adaptive management to promote sustainable development.' With expertise from a myriad of backgrounds from every continent, the conference lived up to its sub-theme of 'Collaboration Makes the World Better.' The benefits of such collaboration are multifaceted. First, environmental challenges such as water scarcity, droughts, and floods, which cut across narrow disciplines, can be resolved by instituting multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Collaboration enables the sharing of data, technologies, and best practices. This is particularly true if one considers that many local solutions have global applicability. Scientific collaboration facilitates knowledge transfer. Fragmented efforts have proven to be costly and inefficient. Through collaboration, nations are thus able to pool together resources in the form of expertise and technology. Closer to home, the paper "Ensuring the Sustainability of Groundwater Resources in Africa" by Professor Godfred Darko from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana underscores the importance of scientific collaboration in addressing practical, existential challenges. Africa, the second-largest continent (30.4 million km²) and second-most populous (1.55 billion in 2025), with a young population, is known for its abundant natural resources. While more focus has been on its surface water systems, less is known that it is also richly endowed with vast groundwater resources. As a result, Africa is generally presented as a water-scarce surface water of 1,170 km³ with over 1,270 dams storing ~20% of available water compares poorly with its groundwater capacity of over 660,000 km³. This translates to more than twenty times the water in lakes. Groundwater provides massive opportunities for sustainable development. African countries use less than 10 per cent of renewable groundwater. Water security challenges to be managed include pollution from agriculture, industry, domestic sources, weak transboundary management, and governance structures. These challenges can be addressed through the integration of structures such as the African Union and the African Ministers Council on Water. Groundwater is critical for drinking, irrigation, and ecosystems. Its sustainability would require governing structures to ensure enhanced monitoring, pollution management, and research into sustainable practices. The Xi'an conference was a prelude to the 3rd International Conference on Earth and Environmental Sciences (ICCES-2025) earmarked for the 17th to 20th August 2025 in Durban. The Durban meeting has already attracted over 600 participants comprising scientists, industry experts, and policymakers. Represented will be more than 70 countries from Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. UNIZULU's hosting of international conferences is part of a broader strategy of transforming itself as an authentic African university, as opposed to a university in Africa. To this end, it has decidedly branded itself as A Node of African Thought. In partnering with the best players in the world, UNIZULU rejects the colonial and apartheid hierarchisation of higher education that continues to bedevil most of the country's public discourse. Such a posture enables the university to chart its path of development. Instead of mimicking and following others, it has chosen to be a pathfinder. To this end, UNIZULU has made enormous progress in inculcating university-wide consciousness of African Thought. When it comes to development, one cannot be a visitor to China without marvelling at the remarkable strides it has made in terms of its investment in socio-economic development. In forty years, China has reportedly achieved a miraculous feat of lifting about 800 million people out of absolute poverty. Its investment in both science and technology has propelled it to become the second-largest economy. China has redefined the scale and speed of technological limits. In doing so, it has rewritten the global engineering playbook. There are innumerable lessons for Africa. The most important being that China's achievements are not despite its challenges but because of them. For China, every challenge or constraint is viewed as a necessary step or catalyst for growth. * Professor Sipho P. Seepe is an Higher Education & Strategy Consultant. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
GNU at war with itself: One year on, ANC-DA coalition faces mounting cracks and public distrust
The GNU has all the hallmarks of a marriage on the rocks. This includes a lack of trust, public display of disrespect and contempt for each other, and lack of commitment. Image: IOL Graphics One year after South Africa entered uncharted political territory with the formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU) following the ANC's 40 per cent showing at the polls, a fragile coalition is already showing deep fault lines — both within and without. Formed in the wake of the May 2024 general elections — where the African National Congress (ANC) fell to 40.2% of the vote, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years — the GNU was heralded as a pragmatic response to a fragmented electorate. Instead, it has become a lightning rod for political tension, public distrust, and rising opposition fire. The ANC, long dominant in South African politics, turned to the Democratic Alliance (DA), which secured 21.81% of the vote, along with smaller parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM), to form a broad coalition. But it was a union born of necessity, not ideological harmony. In an opinion piece published by IOL, political analyst, Professor Sipho Seepe, said the ANC's failures were fuelling DA's anti-transformation agenda. The persistent bickering between the ANC and DA is to be expected. The GNU is, after all, a marriage of inconvenience. Neither party has ever expressed love for the other. The GNU has all the hallmarks of a marriage on the rocks. This includes a lack of trust, public display of disrespect and contempt for each other, and lack of commitment. Both parties have tried to argue that the GNU was born out of necessity. A political analyst, Professor Dirk Kotze, said the GNU therefore has a serious challenge ahead of it. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ In an opinion piece, Kotze said the GNU concept was caught in different political realities. 'The biggest exception is the ANC which is most divided on the GNU – take for example the ANC's ministers who are defending the GNU in comparison with the stance of Panyaza Lesufi who is supporting it vocally but not acting by it,' he said. He described Zille and ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula's fights as the GNU's doom-and-gloom. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the DA, Patriotic Alliance, and Freedom Front Plus are the GNU's most vocal supporters, he said, adding that other partners like the IFP, UDM, PAC and al-Jamaah are less visible but still very much inside the GNU camp. Disputes erupted almost immediately over the allocation of ministerial positions. The ANC initially offered the DA six cabinet posts, including critical portfolios like Basic Education and Home Affairs. But DA leader John Steenhuisen demanded more, igniting weeks of wrangling that weakened public confidence. DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille defended the coalition as a 'firewall' against an ANC-EFF-MK axis, saying, if we let a coalition of the ANC, MK, and EFF go into government, it would burn our hopes and dreams. But the DA's continued friction with the ANC has made that firewall look increasingly unstable. Meanwhile, opposition parties excluded from the GNU have seized the moment to stoke dissent. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by Julius Malema, have labeled the DA 'the enemy,' while MK Party leader Jacob Zuma has accused the ANC of betraying the liberation struggle by partnering with former adversaries. Tensions have escalated on economic fronts. The GNU's recent decision to raise Value-Added Tax (VAT) to fund expanded social programs was met with sharp resistance from the DA, which voted against the national budget — a stunning move for a governing partner. The EFF, in turn, hailed the budget rejection as a symbolic victory against neoliberalism. Credit ratings agency Fitch has flagged the GNU's internal instability and warned that any future overtures toward the EFF or MK Party could threaten South Africa's economic trajectory. The policy uncertainty and ideological divisions within the coalition raise red flags for investor confidence and fiscal discipline, it said in a recent note.
