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4/1/2002 - Knifing Opportunists: The Struggle to Fill the Vacuum Africa’s First Regulated River by James G. Workman

JGW SOUTH ASIA James Workman Donors Fellow Institute studying misuse accretion depletion fresh water supplies southern Africa ICWA LETTERS Since Institute Current World Affairs Crane Rogers Foundation provided fellowships enable outstanding young professionals outside United States write about international areas issues An exempt operating foundation endowed Charles R Crane Institute supported contributions minded individuals foundations TRUSTEES Joseph Battat Mary Lynne Bird Steven Butler William F Foote Kitty Hempstone Pramila Jayapal Peter Bird Martin Ann Mische Dasa Obereigner Paul A Rahe Carol Rose Chandler Rosenberger John Spencer Edmund Sutton Dirk J Vandewalle HONORARY TRUSTEES David Elliot David Hapgood Pat M Holt Edwin S Munger Richard H Nolte Albert Ravenholt Phillips Talbot Institute Current World Affairs The Crane Rog Foundation Four West Wheelock Street Hanover New Hampshire 03755 U S A Knifing Opportunists The Struggle Fill Vacuum Along Africa First Regulated River By James G Workman APRIL CAPETOWN South Africa Because water stream twice In southern Africa lucky Water flows round seems rarer diamond field almost access Jealously guarded never possessed perennial stream becomes timeless constant What changes Consider Liesbeek River As descends Table Mountain source Atlantic Ocean confluence slices through layer after layer human Drawn stream reliable flows tribal regime displaced former inhabitants established rights authority The Liesbeek tells national story access rivers determines South Africa itself Near mountain spring plants animals hyrax baboons antelope gathered hunted San Bush Later tread stream paths Khoi nomadic herders coming water their cattle You cross reinforced bridges filled canals Africa first Dutch farms You mills breweries exploiting river supply booming industrial British Cape Colony At point trace outlines cricket field formed heart vibrant Coloured neighborhood before watered valuable shoved under apartheid Group Areas Act Soon stand walls constructed National Party apartheid government seeking engineer messy river sought engineer control messy peoples And As immigrants converge Cape Town compounding pressure finite waters Liesbeek microcosm nation Under landmark South African Water Act tribal regimes equal access stream In theory reform exclu orderly dictatorial restric tions exchanged inclusive tolerant democratic access entirely In practice exchange leaves unstable vacuum which nature abhors opportunists exploit If local communities vacuum together volun tarily river aggressive species random force Each defines struggle stream As I Liesbeek local commu guides opportun We approach opposite directions wield knives different motives confluence mugged stabbed Literally Atop mountain I watch February summer Agulhas Current separate fresh water vapor gentle southeaster carries inland rising Table Mountain where condenses white cloud called table cloth shifts lently collides against petals ferns fynbos until drops slide stems through roots sinking cracks sight trickle pectedly under rivulet merges merges merges giving birth stream Friends Liesbeek welcome stream I below I shake hands Liz Dave Wheeler chair secretary Martin Beth Reitz JGW treasurer Belinda Grewe Pinelands chapter Friends Liesbeek I known Friends river support groups US while streams created equal theirs equal But Liesbeek journey Nile It particularly beautiful along kilometer journey Its waters Yet traverses Africa Indian Atlantic Ocean pristine diverse wilderness asphalt jungle through Africa oldest economically stratified water stressed To ensure passage merry river vigilantes patrols stream educates residents hacks weeds organizes cleanups leads clueless Americans safaris In short build broad community alliance river owner vacuum Ten years apartheid democracy FOL against government They place Water equity asset should deteriorate Liz Wheeler But ernment spread It being restructured river shuffle They about problems explain their priorities elsewhere Thinking those problems As rightly should Our priorities involve ngoing ferocious competition water access between plant human species The Friends through historic struggles between Hottentots Dutch British Coloureds Afrikaners current African National Congress ANC administration various times court competing claims Yet FOL concerned claims water These include claims water filed behalf river itself How river claim water And Answers emerging driven landmark Water Act priority called The Reserve amount water stream basic human needs sustain river ecological functions society On paper bodies progressive pieces water legis lation world On river guides struggle translate words water Under whoever title preserve integrity stream Liz Wheeler Mobilizing people toward river It anyone responsibility water They But rehabilitate gether sense community survive Rehabilitation courtrooms shops alone So along upper stream discussion turns abstract goals present tangible Decades people classified invasive aliens ruthlessly discriminated against government Now plants classified invasives similar gardeners watershed prosecute weeds judge executioner It Someone casually points usual pretty flowering plant Liz indigenous She squints Perhaps brightens Oh And sings garlic palmiet Cape Glaxis almond yellowwood Khoihut kapok rosemary If lives using amounts water millennia We Minutes later Liz about Now darkens We detect morning glory seedling Kukuyu grass favored lawns expensive Lantana colorful invasive INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS flowering plant Mexico She shakes looks No Alas Judgment severe irrevocable We shrink The gallantly unfold pocket knifes offender wives approvingly A ordered order grows knifed opportunist Our makes sense Indigenous plants bring indigenous insects which bring native phibians which bring native birds mammals But serious beauty biodiversity weeds mature liters water native trees while others example destabilize banks river eroding topsoil compounding problems stream With little water spare urban streams ready anaemic South Africa outlaws invasive weeds matter survival Responsible minimal water becoming informal civic standard determining democratic access could decide whether species welcomed banished urban stream It before solid It rises below ground smooth expensive topped sharp steel hooks prominent labels about armed private security response minutes think about trespassing Since apartheid invisible walls construction walls become ubiquitous South Africa fluent neighborhoods noticing Yet FOL notices resents ccordingly Walls wooden kraals corrals structed rural settlement Beth notes wryly We whether Dutch built cattle Hottentots The earliest tribal regimes formal system ownership water communal Not Dutch settlers displaced carved plots first farms vineyards Africa constructed canals based their experi At least these Afrikaners followed ancient Roman water dominus fluminus whereby private water public property British Cape Colonists snapped water together under their called riparianity which meant properties could include stream Today seemingly slight colonial legacy creates massive complications between urban properties between rural farmers between African nations Intentionally walls fragm natural Soon outrage boils Liz Wheeler You build across stream We responsible flooding happens upstream below The It blocks things And river continue either elsewhere At point becomes problem But FOL disgust stems environmen impacts To walls embody social chological barriers remain divided South Africa today They brush armed theft carjacking murder since apartheid But walls reduce crime tually increase David explains Walls street neighbors river connects entire neighborhood All inward turning isolation increases political vacuum which criminals operate scrutiny exposure which deterrent Trapping people walls rivers moats other We river granted neglect Liz Wheeler We backs build fences between homes turning against against She pauses glare looped concertina razor It FOL solution would private interests their private individual security resources They could walls dividing turning toward stream share environment unifying source linked patrolled neighborhood watch It simple solution inexpensive It FOL JGW other alternative draws parallels river itself Faced winter floods engineers 1950s built concrete walls divert channel river drain These solid walls disturbed river habitat created ecological anomaly ability native plants animals survive lowed opportunistic species river Only breaking those smooth walls replacing concrete stones drilling cores through paved streambed native species begin reclaim their river So might people sharing river The stream always Wheeler temper cooling current Lower people river They harbors crimi floods But It environmental aesthetic recreational asset There should recon After enduring weeds walls Liesbeek River insidious affront Walking along notice sandbags rocks strewn casually across river At first seems random quite deliberate It manmade amateur It crude engineered almost accidental It doesn block river slows enough linger We climb closer There pitched which trace partially buried Then creeping under rocks submerged water winds thick black screen Sucking stantly We follow until plunges beneath toward estate whose worth estimate roughly million Nor hidden We stumble across three parts where access river To illegal The FOL They report unable Says Dave Wheeler The informally common river detriment river health disadvantage those stream But I anyone determine crossed The answer simple They Even pumps removed there check whether affluent owners throughout river catchment drill boreholes groundwater feeds stream surface Sharing water poorly construed unable through regulations pumps water river residential gardens swimming pools whatever reason Kevin Win environmental scientist University Cape Town The river doesn feedback obvious reasons affluent residents their walls In other words there nothing prevent avoiding water bills sucking directly river itself Says Winter Even INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS closely studied river South Africa there compare going comes track estimated percent water unaccounted Consequently authorities withdrawals where illegally It It grows hovering around degrees shade After resting taking swigs water stand press through final stretch As Claremont Newlands I alone among rivers Cape Liesbeek written story which FOL celebrates chapter markers installed bolster pride river heritage Marker shows banks Liesbeek transport route herder trails horse buggy motor 1950s Marker alerts Starke Ayres nursery Marker points bridges across river begun I learn abundant clean water provided ideal location making Anneberg Brewery tapping Newland Spring Or Ohlsson Brewery Yard Irishtown neighborhood first settled brewery workers Walking further I current wered Josephine Mill Dreyer Mill dating Still further I refreshed Schweppes factory which tapped Albion Spring bottle mineral tonic water decades But across dozen vagrants squat known locally burghies living river sandwiched between residents walls offices They leave litter They breed resentment One those rapid response armed private security guards chatting several vagrants But polite respectful He little legal ground maneuver simply around These central informal settlements The shouldn touch there formal structure evict In terms legal access stream private property rather public space along river which control anyone The squatters sleep stream They likely drink water which looks perfectly aside trashed IBM computer monitor sitting upright midstream It sounds melliflu glides But there whiff urine feces removed public toilets discourage squatting Rather This increases filth coming months rains eventually downstream Where comes someone problem One vagrant squatters approaches I expect panhandle doesn He friendly Cape Coloured slightly inebriated He tells about times Spalding Like American company Do I I which puzzles He thought Americans He tells lived Namaqualand pushed there He lived outside pushed there Now plans So indigenous opportunis Some might problem proliferation weeds walls water withdrawals upstream Others suggest eventually native community downstream political vacuum enter It difficult problem The Liesbeek history traces where Ordinance JGW prevent Commission Nuisances River Liesbeek proclaims All provided sluice No person allowed build toilet close river allow sewage offal blood slaughtered animals So people occasional supplies clean drinking water washing river before morning between September March The penalties contravening these regulations either between pounds imprisonment between three months without labour Exactly years later stretch river computer graphics firms within earshot access swimming pools seems little changed Our walking safari passes beyond histori Liesbeek along tracks through Rondebosch Belmont Street Rosebank along Parkway Mowbray The river lized protect roads there progress creating small gestures toward former natural habitat I shelter cores drilled through bottom concrete ancient streambed I notice wooden ramps ducklings weirs water A scoots across bottom I startled afternoon shadows surge stream So I think Given chance Liesbeek support As approach confluence Black River FOL point recent apartheid measure progress Five years earlier developers River Park office complex eastern banks Liesb vided financing build large artificial wetland It would store water reduce flooding impacts purify provide habitat ecology Despite grumbling about project ahead Now wetlands appear working The vegetation taken appears natural I smile watch several ducks paddling around preen fluffing tailfeathers diving Yet worry The invasive alien species European white opportunist begun interbreeding indigenous African black native Perhaps indication artificial wetland working native plants animals humans Here spaces across several playing water Another group doing scrubbing water laying exposed banks The increased I remove blowing Com bined dries everything quickly dehydrates Months right recalls Liz Wheeler I across woman seven grandkids They walked Athlone miles upstream Black River They hours I heart water might toxic But I carrying assuming drinking I I called Only closer I swimming They bringing I recall lesson headwaters restoring plants bring native insects birds amphibians It working I think Then native species sapiens moral choice water based community become opportunist With kilometer Martin Beth Rietz split retrieve their nearby earlier In grass Coloured vagrant appears sleeping river Few notice He stands stretches follows Four proceed through Two Rivers Urban Park toward driving range artificial island indig enous plants Liz talking about nearby Cape Observatory catch words grown strong We standing bridge watching water He poking large Beth drives alone speaks quickly Liz drives We learn vagrant followed Martin weaving behind casually When reached Martin unlocked doors phone The vagrant He knife demanding money They began comply evidently INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS Working wetlands Laundry urban river amidst million people enough To serious stabbed Martin through The couple requested their money purse wallet leave cards licences He agreed Martin favorite pocket knife decades those invasive alien weeds Then I might chalk opportunists event drove Beth Martin exile overseas build abandon river walks Yet remain undaunted She takes hospital drives insist finish journey In spirit continue River Club Raapenberg Bird Sanctuary trying ignore stream violence focus minutes river Near confluence Egyptian geese Ibis spoonbill circle alight banks river It begins slightly The waters followed river already seems tired beaten degraded It flows straight canal under N1 R27 enter At lanti warehouses massive windowless building called Cape Cold Storage At mouth I watch simultaneously tized cleansed saltwater Then I circle river Moments before Liz reminds Cape origins A scattered independent colonial villages walked through Rondebosch Wynberg Salt River Woodstock Mowbray cided their legal fiscal walls inside Combining efforts built small Table Mountain managed their water flows shared security Perhaps history repeat itself Perhaps water scarce water ordered community rebuild within integrated language class religion access river share Still driving I walls everywhere As I cross Liesbeek Beth earlier comment haunts You engineer build please But river going Go where wants Seems ICWA Letters ISSN published Institute Current World Affairs Inc exempt operating foundation incorporated New York State offices located West Wheelock Street Hanover NH 03755 The letters provided charge members ICWA available libraries professional researchers subscription Phone E Mail ICWA valley Fax Web Site Executive Director Peter Bird Martin Program Assistant Brent Jacobson Publications Manager Ellen Kozak Institute Current World Af fairs The Crane Rogers Foundation The information contained publi cation reproduced without writer permission Author Workman James G Title ICWA Letters Sub Saharan Africa ISSN Imprint Institute Current World Affairs Hanover NH Material Type Serial Language English Frequency Mon Other Regions East Asia Mideast North Africa South Asia Europe Russia The Americas Institute Fellows chosen basis character previous experi promise They young professionals funded spend minimum years carrying designed programs study writing outside United States The Fellows required report their findings experiences field month They write subject formally informally The result unique reporting analysis periodic assessment interna tional events issues