Capturing Water (2024)

[bunniefuu]

(hopeful cinematic music)

(strong gusts of wind blowing

heavy rain clouds)

(wind blows)

(mystical drones

of wind instruments)

(harp notes and crashing waves)

The Cape Peninsula, Cape Town

a place of natural beauty

and temperate climate.

(waves and music)

(splash)

Here water flows

across the land in

seeming abundance.

(feet kicking underwater)

We love to be near the streams,

rivers, lakes and the oceans.

(underwater sounds and waves)

Its flow calms us.

Reassures us that all is well.

And reminds us

that water is life.

Before the Europeans arrived,

the area of Cape Town

was called Camissa,

meaning sweet waters that flowed

from the mountain streams.

It watered the Dutch fleet

and the growing settlement.

The expanding

desires of the colonists

soon led to the Khoi and San,

the indigenous peoples,

violently losing their land

and the water that

sustained them.

Their food and knowledge system

that viewed water as sacred

was erased.

In their place, enslaved

people were imported

to meet the labour needs

of the new plantations,

and a form of

extraction developed

called racial capitalism.

This colonial past continues

to weigh heavily on the present.

(boat horn and

suspenseful music)

And nowhere is this more evident

than with the

city's water crisis.

(suspenseful atmospheric music)

Day zero will happen

when the dams reach 13.5%.

Forgive our sins.

Bring rain to the land.

Plenty rain.

(crowd praying)

And I pray in the

name of Jesus father.

We can no longer ask people

to stop wasting water.

We now have to force them.

Fearing possible unrest

the military was put on

standby to supervise

the proposed water

distribution points.

Councilor Geordin Hill-Lewis

is duly elected

as the mayor for the

City of Cape Town.

The mayor makes it clear

that in his term of office,

he will seek to solve

the massive water

and sanitation crisis.

My fellow Capetonians, the

purpose we have

chosen to fulfill

is to turn Cape Town

into a beacon of hope

for South Africa

at a time when millions

of our citizens

believe that our country is past

the point of no return,

and where local governments

can do nothing more

than manage decline.

I am not one of those people,

and this will not be

one of those governments

Today, the annual rainfall

continues to be insufficient

and water supplied to

the city's working poor

remains highly restricted.

Is there another way?

And if so, where do we look to

for solutions?

(cinematic music)

(inaudible chatter)

(water being poured into a jug)

(water being poured into kettle)

(inaudible background chatter)

So we have been storing water

as you can see, in different

types of containers and bottles,

five liter bottles.

But as were storing,

we also using it

so that we don't end up

with water that's

standing too long.

But it's more of a

safety precaution

because we've been threatened

by the city of Cape Town

over months, now,

that they're going

to put us on the drip system

because we're using more than

500 liters of water per day.

Now, this is not just for us.

That counts for us,

who lives in the backyard

and I think we are about

12 living here at the moment.

And so we can't

afford to be without water.

(boiling water and steam)

(Narrator) The city's attempt

to avert catastrophe,

day zero

came out of a terrible drought.

In the years that followed,

policies have been introduced to

restrict household consumption

and consolidate

control over water.

(stirring of coffee)

They were telling

the poor to save water,

and they were asked to save

water that they don't have.

We see it happening

in communities

where people are

using too little water.

They are not using

what theyre supposed to.

They don't mentioned

backyarding.

They don't mention leaks.

All of those things clearly are

going to lead to this situation.

And we raised all of that.

And the response that

we got actually was

to say what we need

are responsible citizens.

There's no logic. You know, if

you look at the

actual statistics

of unemployment and

how much people have,

there's no way this can work.

Like there's no

way that you were

not going to get this letter.

(inaudible chatter

and footsteps)

(chatter and music)

In 1994, we had between

12 and 14 million households

that didn't have

access to water.

That's about 40 million people.

And if we jump ahead to 2019,

the state's own research shows

that there were 3.5

million households

that didn't have

access to clean water.

That's about 21

million people today.

Part of the problem

is that we have given

the human right to water

the same standing as the

corporate right to water.

This was the

negotiated settlement

where we kept private property.

Land was not returned.

Water was also not returned.

South Africa is the most unequal

country in the world.

Cape town is its

most racially unequal city.

(music)

(club whacks ball)

600,000 people of color

are on the waiting list

for social housing.

Many live in

informal settlements,

(traffic and drilling)

while real estate housing

developments are booming.

(traffic and drilling)

(heavy breathing)

- Good morning.

- Morning. How are you?

- Good and you?

- Yeah, thank you.

All right. Were off.

We can't just allow

totally unconstrained

water usage

of course.

So there does need to be

a basic allocation

er, that, for the poor.

And my understanding

at the last time

that I checked these

figures was that ours

was the most generous basic

allocation of any

in the country,

of any city in the country.

We give the most generous basic

allocation,

above which people do

need to start paying for the

services that they consume.

The price of water is not

so prohibitively expensive that,

an entire family where

even if most of the

family are unemployed,

that they would not be able

to pay something towards that.

And so I do think that's

an important principle

to establish in South Africa

that you must pay something

for the services

that you use over

and above the

indigency allocation.

(hands typing, car engine)

We have a city

that tells itself that

they are doing the utmost

to give to the poor, and this

is the language that they use.

And the problem with it is that

there's no sense of inequality

that actually links who has

water and who

doesn't have water.

(reflective music)

Day zero exposed

the very deep levels of

inequality in distribution

of the city's water.

Where just 13% of the population

were using 51% of the supply.

The cost recovery approach,

the stated need to

earn revenue from water

meant there was no real

motivation to encourage

wealthy households

to cut back on their use.

(reflective music)

(water pouring)

When it came to saving water,

the onus was on the

city's 2 million poor.

(water pouring)

Just one rand sugar,

and we buy one rand coffee. And

it works nicely for three cups.

(Faeza chuckling)

And the kids are saying now,

they brought me a container and

said I must put

the sugar in there

so that the camera don't

see we have one rand sugar.

And I said, you want us to lie?

Why are we not being...

This is our reality.

This is what we have.

So now, at the moment, as a

household,

it will be me and Ebrahiem.

It will be Ebrahiem's brother.

And then we have Eve.

Then there's, Junaid,

and then there's Zaheer

and theres Qiyaam,

and theres Raees

and theres Raeed, and

then theres Shaneeka,

and then there's Kelly,

and then there's Ishmaeel.

Is that it?

Mogamad Ishmaeel.

Oh, it's Mogamad Ishmaeel,

right.

It's that. Were 12.

So were 12. Yeah.

Yoh! A lot!

Already as a woman

it comes with responsibilities.

You have to do

everything in the house.

And you are

responsible for thinking

about everyone and

everyone's well-being.

And then there's the activism.

There's people in this road at

this moment,

that dont have water.

Thats our struggle.

(chatter of children playing)

(traffic and inaudible chatter)

(dog barking)

There's no

alternative for water.

There's nothing you

can replace water with.

Water is like the air

that we breathe.

If you stop breathing,

you're going to die.

If you stop drinking water,

you will die.

But what's happening to us

is we're dying slowly

because we're not

washing ourselves

like we're supposed to.

Our children are not drinking

enough water like

they're supposed to.

We are not doing

what we're supposed

to do to keep our bodies safe.

No?

So that is why for us, as the

African Water Commons Collective

water is key.

The city of Cape Town has now

changed this policy

last year and said

every household can

only use 500 or less.

If they use more than 500

they punish you.

(cough)

That statement says punish you.

Punish, like we are children.

They will slap our hands

when we dont listen.

That's how they treat us.

So after your second punishment

the city manager,

he has the sole priority,

the sole authority

to put you on prepaid.

Do you know what prepaid means?

When you buy water.

Like electricity boxes.

So ultimately, we are fighting

for people to have water coming

from their taps inside their

homes and enough for them to use

for all their basic needs,

and then

for us to be able

to achieve that

we have to get communities

conscientized.

We are focusing

on the issue of water

and people have

various other issues.

But it's important that we

fight for this now

because people cannot live

without water.

So in our group with the, the,

the ten house group...

So in the afternoon,

it's like they use up to between

150 and 170 liters.

It's basically the

same thing that

they do. Its lunch

they prepare.

They start with the main meal.

It's where they

start. The ladies

start with the main

meal for the night.

During the day

I'm trying to wash

our clothes and I'm cooking.

And water, we drink water.

Because the body needs a drink.

(clapping)

We are all using

water on basic needs.

I didn't see any one of

you list a swimming pool.

(inaudible chatter and laughter)

(friendly chatter)

If we really want

to cut water costs

what is water being used for?

Do we need what's being mined?

Do we need

wine, beer? The export

of our juices?

Or do we first need

to say what is enough?

What is enough for every person

to have enough drinking water?

Enough water to grow food with?

And beyond that, we can

deal with what the luxuries are.

(music and waterfall)

In the sweeping mountain ranges

on the continental

side of the Cape Flats,

the city built large water dams

made up of pristine

mountain streams,

providing millions

with fresh water.

(running water

and uplifting music)

The rainfall

that flows from the Table

Mountain range and percolates

into the ground, feeding the

water table of the Cape Flats

has recently been identified

as a new source of fresh water.

It's part of a huge lake

of underground water

called aquifers.

(water sprinklers and

contemplative music)

Is it safe to come?

Right.

Thats my wifes herb garden.

(papers rustling)

Okay. While doing this

work, I came

across a very

wise soil scientist,

Professor Auerbach

and he looked at me and said,

Nazeer, you know,

you must decide

what you're going to become.

Are you going to be an activist

or you're going to be a farmer?

At that time,

I had no hesitation.

I said, I want to be both.

But now I realize

that I suck at both.

(laughing)

But I'm forced to do both

because in order to farm,

I have to protect the area

in which I want to farm in.

(bird wings flapping,

breeze blowing)

(gentle music)

This is where you are.

Were in the Philippi

Horticultural Area.

It's 3000 hectares in extent.

Think of 3000 rugby

fields or football fields.

(gentle music)

We have an

abundant water supply.

We're literally walking

on water here.

There's a huge dam in the soil.

Now, this makes our

area drought proof.

In 2014, when I met Nazeer,

we'd heard that the urban

edge had been shifted.

It's really

desperately important

that you don't let go of

your drought proof farmland.

And it's one of the last

three green lungs

left in the city of Cape Town.

And so that's exactly what

you need to preserve

in a time of climate change.

(gentle music)

(water sprinklers)

The farmers need the aquifer

to support hundreds

of livelihoods

and thousands of jobs.

Farmers in the Philippi

Horticultural area

in Cape Town are concerned

about the possible loss of

agricultural land

due to developments.

Developers are

speculating in the

area and they're buying up land

and they are trying

to force re-zones.

They've been

campaigning since 2011,

when Western Cape

government approved

a proposal for

this section of land

to be open for

possible development.

(water sprinklers)

(chatter, insects,

distant traffic)

(cutlery, quiet movement)

So Nazeer is somebody

that can transform things

like anything, a patch of land,

and he will make

a beautiful farm

out of it and be so successful

with it as well.

Everything that you see around

here has Nazeers touch to it.

(water sprinklers)

They are challenging

the legality

of the process that was followed

to determine what can be done

with two pieces

of land in the...

that is no longer in the PHA.

To give you an idea...

To give you an idea

this is the bigger PHA area

the two pieces of land

we're talking about

are those two pieces there.

Okay,

so that was the shenanigans

at the steps of the court.

(chatter from video

playing on laptop)

So at one point, one court case,

Nazeer had to make the decision

that he was going

to use this house.

And if we lost the case,

we would lose the house, because

I don't have to pay for expenses

or how it worked, or

what it was.

But, um, yeah. And um,

it was just one of those things

that we had to face.

But I'm very proud to say that

this was our founding affidavit.

341 pages.

Imagine Nazeer

sitting in the police

station signing

every single page.

The farmland is worth much more

to the city as urban land.

So that land would be

worth a friendly bank

who's going to

donate to the party,

having 40,000 more mortgages

to be able to offer.

And then the city is also going

to get rates and taxes

from every single one of those

properties, even though the area

has been producing food

for the last 150 years.

The trouble is that it

does it quietly,

and it, and it does it reliably,

but nobody thinks about it

until it's gone.

(birds singing over

a gentle breeze)

As a child,

I remember things

like going to the

chicken coop and

collecting the eggs

for breakfast in the morning,

the fruit trees, the cow.

Suddenly one day

it all disappeared.

I was removed from the area

under apartheid.

And what we're facing now is

that I'm also going

to be removed from this area

again as an adult.

It made me go into

a different kind of mode.

And I wasn't going to take it.

This is my madoda.

My madoda.

She's old,

but she's very willing.

First... first swing start.

(music and car

engine starting up)

(car engine humming)

(car door opens and closes)

So what do you see behind me

is a battlefront

of our struggle.

From the sand dune across

till those sand dunes poking

out there in the distance,

all the way across to a line of

blue gums in Strandfontein road.

All of this is a

thousand hectares.

And this is where half

of it, is the Oakland City land

where theyre proposing

to put up a mini city

right here in the middle

of the farming area.

This area is the

highest recharge

area of the Cape Flats Aquifer,

which means that here the water

sinks into the soil quicker,

easier because of

the soil geology.

If this area is paved over

and you put a skin of concrete

and tar, and roofs over

this area, its going

to suffocate this aquifer.

And this aquifer will not be

able to recharge naturally.

So the initial reason why the

developers persuaded the city

to go ahead with

this was that they

said, we'll do low

cost housing for you.

And it was soon realized

that actually the water table is

too high for low cost housing.

The water is actually a

meter below the surface.

So the developers ran with that

and very soon the

development was

turned into a gated

housing proposal.

And so those houses

are not affordable, really.

You've got to throw

down a million rands

worth of cement and steel first

before you build a

house on top of it.

The aquifer is in the

soil of the farmlands.

So if we lose a piece

here, a piece there

it will destroy the aquifer.

(soft rhythmic music)

We're organizing workshops

in the communities

to raise awareness

about the aquifer

and help us protect the aquifer.

Over the years, we have

stopped a number of developers.

So there was development one,

two, three, four, five, six.

We stopped all of them out of

court except this one.

This one we had to go to court,

the Oakland City Development,

we had to go to court.

We took the... we took the

developer to court.

Now remember these developers,

what they want

to do is they want

to build very expensive houses.

(Members of audience

express agreement)

They lie to our people

to say, you know,

don't listen to Nazeer and

don't listen to the campaign

because they don't

want you to have houses,

but the houses they wanted to

build here are for rich people.

(Member of audience)

Its for rich people, yes.

You won't be able to afford

to live in these houses.

So we are resisting their idea

of economic development, right?

(clapping and inaudible speech)

(tap dripping)

(eerie cinematic music)

(water runs out of tap)

(water flowing in stream)

(eerie cinematic music)

Long ago,

the streams of Table Mountain

flowed into open canals

through the city.

(water flowing and

bubbling in stream)

But they ended up

becoming open sewers.

(tense music)

(wet footsteps

inside water tunnel)

To remove the health hazard

the colonial administration

built tunnels for these scores

of streams to flow through.

(water runs through tunnel)

Every day,

an estimated nine

million liters of water

flows through these tunnels,

largely unused,

to the nearby ocean.

(tense music)

And meanwhile, our freshwater

streams are polluted

and disused.

(quirky cinematic music)

While the city has grown,

public spending on water and

sanitation

infrastructure has not.

Our artificial separation from

nature now means

our environment

is carrying the cost.

(eerie cinematic music)

A landscape originally dotted

with lakes, wetlands

and watercourses once fed the

needs of the local population.

(poignant music)

(underwater noise)

Now, many are destroyed

beyond repair

or highly polluted.

(eerie music and

underwater noise)

(boots wade through water)

Residents in Milnerton

are kicking up a stink

because of six long years

of sewage problems.

(eerie, sombre music)

Issues with a nearby

sewage plant pump

failures and a

polluted stormwater

system have all contributed

to the lagoon

being closed for use.

(wind, seagulls cry

and flap their wings)

(a dog barks, many birds sing)

This is one page

where it says we're a

wetland city,

which is wonderful news.

Now if I go three pages on

in the same local magazine

it says rising Milnerton stench

is hitting residents hard.

Now that's really true.

And yet Milnerton Lagoon

is part of a wetland system.

So one has to

question how seriously

the city is taking

that duty of care

when they are allowing

some of their own

infrastructure to

pollute the lagoon,

in fact, be the major sources

of pollution in the lagoon.

And yet it seems to be business

as normal for the city.

And I think that's something

that has to be challenged.

(eerie cinematic music)

(wind and waves)

(rhythms become

louder and stronger)

(many birds singing)

All our investigations point

to the sewage treatment plant

being a major source of the

pollution, as well as

pump stations

that have failed frequently

and led to raw sewage

flowing into the lagoon.

(wind blowing through leaves)

(eerie music)

- Hi Caroline.

- Hi Gray.

Hi there Steve.

We had a big problem

over the weekend again.

The lagoon has been stinking.

I've been in contact

with the Mayco member.

Last weekend, there was sludge

running in the river again.

They say there was a problem at

the plant, so I'm not quite sure

what we're going to

find today, but

I'm very glad we

are testing today

I despair sometimes really.

Stormwater shouldn't

look like that.

(vehicle engine humming)

(door closing)

In 2019,

I laid a formal complaint

with the Western Cape

Department of Environment,

who are known as the

Green Scorpions,

and asked for their assistance

and investigation.

And they did a very

thorough investigation.

I was impressed.

And the result of

that was that the

city was issued

with a directive.

So legally, that was a

very important step.

(rapid water flowing in river)

South Africa has cutting edge

environmental legislation

allowing for legal

action to be taken

against municipalities

that flout the law.

Numerous orders were made by the

provincial environmental agency

to clean up the pollution.

One of them required regular

communication between the city

and the affected communities

regarding progress achieved.

(engine humming)

So we're going there to the

meeting this evening

with the senior

leadership of water

of Water and Sanitation,

because we're going to answer

the difficult questions,

knowing that under

the new mayor's

leadership, is a real priority,

a real drive to clean our water,

because the mayor

has given us the aim

that at the end

of this five years,

we're going to be

swimming in here.

Rethink the stink?

- Hey, yeah.

- Yeah.

So you must get us into

the meeting, right?

Okay. So you want to follow us?

They don't want you in there?

They told us they don't

want us, yeah.

Well, I had somebody

go to Potsdam

and do independent

water testing.

Now, on your official effluent

discharge there,

the count was 750,000 E coli.

Now, the response

from the city is,

You caught us on a

bad day, Caroline.

Well, you know...

(laughing)

you know, perhaps I did.

But what upsets me is that

I have to collect money

from this community to pay for

the cost of that water testing,

when you should

know very well what

is being discharged

into the river

and you have a responsibility

to be transparent

with that to the community.

(clapping)

I want each and every one of

you here this evening

to leave with the understanding

that not at any single point

was the delays at

the Potsdam upgrades

as a result of the city alone.

Yes, obviously,

you know, we have a

role to play in this,

but Im going to ask that Mike,

you go into some of detail

so that we can understand

exactly why we are here

now, ten years later.

I wasn't here at that time,

but that is not the point.

The main point for me

is that it is now happening.

Er, its budgeted for.

It's going to take the next

five years to do.

It's our primary project and

we are totally committed to it.

And I know that's

not satisfactory to you

but I'm going

to have to leave now.

- Thank you,

- Thank you Mike, thanks.

Four, five years is

not good enough.

My basic human

right is to breathe

fresh air, which I cannot do.

I invite you to come

and sleep in our

room and wake up

choking from that smell.

Surely you can,

you can upgrade

Potsdam in two years.

Do you know how

many families are there

with their kids

swimming in that water?

I mean, are you happy with that?

I mean, those, that

needs to be closed,

that whole area

should be closed down

and shut down.

Really, I mean, if

it's that toxic.

I'm acknowledging that over the

years, there have been issues

impacting the river.

There have been issues.

They are still issues

that we are dealing with.

And only once we are able to get

the various phases

of the upgrade

going at Potsdam,

then we are going to

start to make a

meaningful difference.

Let me share an example.

(contemplative music)

There is a profoundly

moral element

to getting the basics right

and to good government.

What we've got to

do is make sure that

our infrastructure

investment and

our basic services can keep up

with the huge

number of people that

want to come and

live in Cape Town.

Good morning Bruce.

How are you?

I want to get something

important done.

That's my sense

of kind of purpose.

In Cape Town,

one of those difficult

things is the state of our

sanitation infrastructure.

Morning Leonard.

- Thank you. Is it big enough?

- 4XL

It's infrastructure

that is reasonably good

but is completely overloaded

and had an investment

in which has not

kept up with the

growth in the

population of our city.

You've got to fix it.

And so we are fixing it.

Very cool.

- Cheers!

- Cheers!

That beautiful clear water

that you saw inside

is going to go

underneath the highway

and feed the Faure

water recycling plant,

which were breaking

ground on next year.

And in the years

ahead will produce

absolutely crystal clear

drinking water from wastewater.

There is an equity and inclusion

and indeed a moral aspect

to functioning basic services.

Thank you.

So I feel that

responsibility deeply, but

I understand that

the way that I have to,

serve out that

responsibility or fulfill it

is to make sure

that the services work

and that requires revenue.

There's no two ways about it.

There's a separate

debate to be had

about whether that

should be funded

by the private sector,

off balance sheet or not,

but for the time being,

the dominant view is that it

should be funded by the state

and, and recovered

from the use of the service.

(inaudible chatter)

We have a city that

is absolutely committed

to a cost recovery program.

We can now build

housing projects.

We can now build social

housing projects around here.

So this is really important.

When you look at South Africa,

Cape Town has the most

expensive properties

and the lowest tax rates.

And so if you were to tax

the highest properties

in Cape Town, 1%, just 1% more,

you would solve any argument

that says we don't have money

for the water infrastructure

or for redistribution.

(gentle breeze blowing)

Faeza, let me show you

where they put the meter.

This is our routine

for the whole day.

The whole day we must open

and close it, so we can check.

And if you turn the

knob and theres

water coming out the tap inside,

then its almost as

if people have money.

Then you call everyone to come

around because they can fill up.

Everyones so excited

because we have water.

Were so lucky, its

like Christmas for us.

So yeah, this is the routine

we follow everyday.

So if we turn the knob, and

theres no water, then too bad.

The problem began, when

they installed the water meter.

Heres where they

install the meter.

They install it outside, because

then they can do what they want.

Sometimes they do

it without you knowing.

You wake up and

find a new meter.

You understand?

I have a five year old child

and children like to play.

Now, he is not

allowed to play in the park

because he is going

to get his clothes dirty.

He has one set of clothes, that

he needs to wear for two days

because he can't wear

different clothes every day

because of the water.

You can't wash them everyday.

So, most of the time,

we have to buy water.

We pay, for 20 liters, 40 Rand.

So, yes, its a huge

struggle for us.

Okay, so the water that you buy,

is that from the municipality?

No, its from the drug lord.

Sometimes you don't know if

you should buy bread or water.

And, as a mother, how

do you look at your children

and explain that

there isn't any water?

You understand?

So you need to make

a plan every day.

Yeah.

(contemplative music)

(quiet street sounds)

Salaam

They want the poor people to pay

for the crisis that we

are not responsible for.

It's an issue of cost recovery,

but they are recovering

in the wrong places.

(suspenseful music)

One of the households

that we visited,

I looked at it and

people were using

two, ten mil to brush

their teeth.

And I talked through,

I said, comrade

two syringes of water, is that

what you use to

brush your teeth?

And she said yes,

She said, I only have

350 liters of water

and so I can't use any more.

It started from 2020.

They told me that they are

coming to close the water.

So I asked the

guy after three days

and then the guy came

and did the bypassing

of the water.

We didn't touch

anything inside the meter,

but he did things inside.

And then he bypassed the water.

Since then,

since then, yes,

it was not right.

Faeza, I know I was

doing something wrong

but what can I do, Faeza?

(car driving by)

(distant traffic)

This is the goal.

We've got toilets there

and theyre always leaking.

And also this is a

formal settlement.

This borehole is always leaking.

If you are passing

there, there's

always water running down there.

Its very seldom

where you can see a

house where there is

no backyard dwellers.

So that we're talking

about a household

from 10 to 30 people

on one property.

Imagine were on a drip system.

Government made an

ad saying water is life.

So how come you're

taking life away from us?

(clapping and cheering)

(rhythmic, reflective music)

(inaudible chatter)

Backyard dwellings

have increased by 256%.

So to allocate per household

makes absolute no sense.

There's not one

household per property.

There are multiple

households per property.

And water then has to get

further and further subdivided.

And yet the city is allocating

this water allowance

to a household

to the property,

regardless of the 256% increase.

(rhythmic, reflective music)

Education. Safety.

Housing. Water.

None of these services

have ever been given willingly.

We only get what

we're organized to take.

(suspenseful music)

(traffic)

Hi!

Hi!

This one is the

most important one.

Ta-da!

We are here because we need to

highlight what's happening.

Because we know

the people wh*re

going to struggle without water.

And if at any stage I,

we want the mayor

or the mayor's

person to say to us,

who do we contact

if people are without water

during the holidays,

when you are on

holiday, you know

what I'm saying?

I mean,

we can't expect miracles to

happen overnight,

but at some stage

and at some point we

must put pressure.

And this, I think, is

our point of pressure.

They are doing nothing

for our poor people.

And so we are here

today to say no.

We're here to say today

we also want the festive season.

We also want food on our tables.

We also want our

children to have

water in their taps at school.

Water is a human right and

we are all human beings.

And those big companies

like SA Breweries

thats going to

make nice beer for

the holidays...

We cannot bath in beer.

We cannot make food with beer.

Huh! Nestl Chocolate is using

how many liters to

make one chocolate.

But our children are thirsty.

We are here because

we are saying no!

No more!

Enough is enough.

We have no fear!

We have no fear

of what we are doing!

We have no fear

We have no fear

We have no fear

We have no fear

We have no fear,

none at all

We have no fear

We have no fear

Comrades,

the mayor is not coming.

The mayor is

afraid of the people.

The mayor... the mayor has

sent Mr. Nyanga Damane.

He's the community

liaison officer for the mayor.

But we are also

saying to the mayor

that you can only

run away from us

so many times. Yeah?

Power!

To the people!

Power!

To the people!

Down with capitalism, down!

Down!

Forward to the struggle

for water for all! Forward!

Forward!

Forward to the struggle

for water for life! Forward!

Forward!

As I thank everyone

for gathering here

I have received the

Memorandum of Demands,

and I'm assuring everyone that,

erm...

We will respond. Thank you.

Okay.

That is not the end of it.

This is only the beginning.

Yes!

It's only the first time

they see us here.

We will get the

mayor where we want

the mayor to be,

when we are ready.

Yeah, yeah!

(inaudible chatter, wind, birds)

(contemplative music)

(children playing,

splashing water)

Wetlands are an essential

part of the water cycle.

They clean and recharge

groundwater supplies,

reduce flood risk

and provide a critically

important habitat for fish,

birds and plant life.

(contemplative music)

Coming here with

my parents as a child,

and we used to come braai here

and I was surprised

to see this place now.

It looks very desolate now.

And the reason is

because the vleis,

you know, theyre so polluted.

(contemplative music)

(boat moving through water)

(stick jostling trash)

(eerie music)

And part of the pollution

is the mismanagement of the

blue infrastructure in the city,

but also the

infrastructure that the

city put in place

to manage waste.

That's the landfill

site over there.

Right next door to the landfill

site is the water

treatment works.

So a lot of waste

flows into this area.

And that impacts

on the Zeekoevlei,

it impacts on the

aquifer in the soil.

(seagulls, garbage trucks)

(eerie music)

There are

thousands of ill*gal connections

into the stormwater system.

There are thousands

of informal residents

throwing their night soil

into the stormwater system.

So there is massive abuse of the

of the city's infrastructures.

The city goes and

follows it up and empties it.

But so the point I'm making is

actually that we've

got to find a way,

if we're going to

do anything radical,

we've got to find a way to help

engender behavioral change

in those communities.

What you've got is a

failure of management systems.

And what frustrates me is you

keep blaming the poor people.

You dispute the

fact that there's

any other contributing factor

other than the sewage works.

Its a question of volumes.

That's just not true.

I'm sorry, but...

There have been 150

Olympic swimming pools of sh*t.

(sombre music)

Much of Cape Town's

poorly treated sewage

is pumped directly into the sea.

And it takes a whopping

55 million liters of fresh water

to get it there every day.

(water flowing from

pipe underwater)

(eerie music)

Hi, Lesley, my friend,

how are you?

We published a

study on Greenpoint.

It was just around

the time that the

city was trying to

renew its permits

to carry on operating

the marine outfalls.

It told him that that is into

a marine reserve,

for instance, at

Camps Bay,

its a marine reserve.

How can you be, in this day

and age, still be

pumping raw sewage

into a marine reserve?

And they rebutted

our paper and they said

that we're basically

talking nonsense.

And they insulted

us as scientists about

we're exaggerating

and all kinds of things,

(waves)

that if you measure

the seawater,

you measure very

low concentrations,

because it's

such a dilute level.

And their philosophy

is dilution of pollution

is the way to

mitigate the problem.

Look, it's diluted by the sea,

but the marine organisms are

bio-accumulating them, and they

are what you're

trying to protect

in that marine reserve.

(whale song and

underwater sounds)

(birds and fish

move in the water)

(underwater

bubbles and gurgling)

(water splashing as birds

push through the surface)

(underwater

bubbles and gurgling)

(high-pitched whale song)

(gurgling, bubbling water)

(whale pushing through

surface of the water)

(contemplative music)

The last resort for Cape Town

is desalination plants.

This is where seawater is

converted into drinking water.

It's a last resort

because it's expensive

and environmentally destructive.

They tried this process in 2018,

but it soon ran

into big problems

because of the high levels

of pollution in the ocean water.

That's the desalination

plant water output.

And you can see

here in November,

none of the desalination

plants worked because

of this huge big plume.

Where's that picture of the

plume now, this plume clogged up

all the desalination plants

and they couldn't work.

(waves and music)

There's been so much destruction

and devastation

of our environment.

Our health is so linked to the

health of the

environment around us.

They are one.

We cannot separate them.

And I think when I started,

I was quite naive.

I have become disillusioned,

but I think sometimes

they rely on activists getting

tired, giving up and

life happening

and moving on

to other things and

nobody holds them accountable.

I'd like to welcome a very

special guest here today,

Mrs Caroline Marx

from the Milnerton

Residents and

Ratepayers Association,

who is an example to every

Capetonian of the critical role

active community

organizations play.

(clapping)

She almost single-handedly drove

the issue of the deterioration

of the Milnerton

Lagoon and in the

process, and I don't

think she knows this,

she served as one of the

early inspirations to me

that convinced me

to run for this office.

Just totally unexpected.

And I was really touched.

And then the following year,

I and some other

water activists,

together with local academics,

were invited to join a wetlands

and mayoral advisory committee

so that we could have input.

The next item

on the agenda is

item number eight.

It also gave me

access to information

that Id never previously had.

So one of the things

I've been pushing for

for many years, was

that the water results

were released publicly

so anybody could go and

have a look and check

what their river looked like and

check how safe their beach was.

Are there any further questions?

Caroline?

Thank you for the presentation.

I just would like

to know the lag

time between the

sample being taken

and the results being received.

Because if it's

sitting at about two weeks,

it means you're closing it

based on old info.

And Geordin promised

me that would happen.

And eventually those results

were made public.

(contemplative, sad music)

For ten years they haven't been

reporting on the

quality of the water

and now that they are reporting,

it's ridiculous the way

water is being polluted.

(contemplative, sad music)

At any given time, you'll get a

message on your WhatsApp

or leaflet saying boil

your water

before you use it, which means

the quality isn't good enough.

We just drink it

most of the time.

You know? I know of many

working class people who

just drink it because

they can't afford it, and for

those of us who can afford it,

we need to buy

extra electricity or extra gas.

And so even that, not included

as a cost by the city,

you know? But it is a cost

for poor people.

Water that does

not generate revenue

or profits is

increasingly under threat

by those who seek to

cut their operational costs

by using our water

sources as a dumping ground.

Mobilized communities

are quickly waking to the notion

that we cannot

separate our health

from our natural environment,

that we are part

of nature.

(gentle reflective music)

Create awareness about the PHA

and the aquifer with the wider,

um, people, communities...

across the city.

So I'm hoping that through your

work, we can kind of find a way

to create a billboard that says,

you know what the area is about.

Yeah, and I'm also

interested in how

the city will read

the billboards.

Yes.

(laughing)

Im beyond worrying about how

the city will view me any more.

They just make me completely...

They make me very angry.

So I don't care

much about what the

city says,

but I think you're right.

In the end, they're going to

determine how the land

is used, right?

Um, well, not really,

its going to determine... er...

How the land is used is going to

determine how effective we are

in mobilising people.

(Islamic call to prayer)

(wind)

(reflective music)

Yeah.

(cars driving past)

(birds communicating

with each other)

Were standing here now

in the middle of winter

and the area is flooded.

It's magically transformed

into a seasonal wetland

with some 98 bird species

that depend on this habitat

for breeding and

migratory birds.

(birds singing)

And its at this site

that Consol wants to

mine silica sand

by dredging all of the soil

out of this area

and really destroying this

whole ecosystem here.

Plans to mine the area have been

set back due to

pollution concerns

and the refusal of the

Department of Water

to grant the

mine a water license.

But the city is also

eyeing this massive

catchment of underground water

for its own purposes.

We are increasingly

starting to access

our underground

aquifers for fresh water.

That is our very first new water

project that is already online,

where we're taking

about 100 megaliters

a day, from the aquifers.

And it's very important

that we do that

in a sustainable way

so as not to deplete

those aquifers or expose them

to salt water ingress

over time.

The scheme

consists of abstraction and

managed aquifer recharge

abstraction shown

by the green and

managed aquifer

recharge by the red.

The managed aquifer

recharge scheme is

seen by the city

not only as a means

to augment its own

dwindling supply

of revenue,

generating fresh water,

but also as a means to clean

up the pollution of the aquifer

created by sand mining

and other economic activity.

This includes the wastewater

treatment and landfill

sites that all border

the Philippi area,

So you can pave over

the natural recharge zone

because we're

going to recharge it

with managed aquifer recharge.

You can take the

dunes away, which

used to act as

sponges and hold water

until the aquifer

could absorb it.

Those dunes are gone now.

Now we just going to recharge it

with managed aquifer recharge.

So now there's carte blanche

to do whatever the hell

you want in the PHA

because we've got managed

aquifer recharge.

So along come the

sand mines and they say

no, it's not going

to affect the water

because we'll just clean the

saline intrusion away

by using the managed

aquifer recharge scheme.

Nazeer and Susan sit

on the aquifer recharge

monitoring committee

as local stakeholders

with a vested interest

in ensuring its health.

In 2009, the City of Cape Town

said the PHA is irreplaceable.

It's irreplaceable.

In other words,

it cant be mitigated.

It can't be engineered.

The PHA is actually

the only natural

recharge area of the aquifer.

Evidence from elsewhere

in the world tells us

this part of our

ecology is fragile,

and precaution is

an important principle.

It's born from an insistence

that nature's ecosystem must

be protected from further harm

if we are to have any chance

of surviving climate change.

When we think about

our colonial history,

we think about the dispossession

of people's livelihoods.

But very few of us think about

the dispossession of knowledge.

What colonialism and apartheid

did was create

this great tearing

from people, from the soil

and from nature.

The problem in

our environment and

climate change

and all the problems

with our soil and our water

and all of that, is a result

of this industrial plantation

farming, extractive

farming that has

happened over the

last 300/400 years.

And I didn't want to be like

that kind of farmer.

(rhythmic, contemplative music)

And that led me to the

watermans type of farming

in the tradition of the Khoi

watermans of this area

who were really in tune

with the environment

in the way that they farmed.

And so what we now know

as, regenerative agriculture,

biodynamic agriculture,

permaculture,

those were deeply embedded in

local and indigenous

farming cultures.

Thats where this comes from.

And that was considered

to be backward and primitive.

Now, its the way to get us out

of the climate crisis.

(rhythmic uplifting music)

I'm a small scale farm

and I'm an organic farmer,

and one

of my biggest inputs is compost.

We can't make enough

compost on the farm.

First of all,

to to build healthy

soil because we

don't use chemicals.

And at the same time, we

have a city who has vast amounts

of, of organic waste

that can be composted.

We can divert this waste

and use it as a resource.

Local governments worldwide

understand landfills create

a highly toxic environment

for our air, land and water.

Some are seeking solutions

by helping farmers

repair the soil,

supporting local

food production.

Organic waste previously

dumped at landfills

is now being used to

make compost at scale.

Now imagine if

you can get the food

waste from the city's landfill,

turn it into compost

and give it free to farmers.

You'd be able to spread

the agro-ecological farming

across the full 3000

hectares of the farmlands,

and then you'd have a city which

is providing organic produce

to the people who need it most,

to the people who've

got diabetes, to

the people who've

got hypertension,

and to the people who haven't

been able to afford vegetables.

Responsible farmers

are moving away

from agrochemicals and using

compost as their

main fertilizer.

Because compost

builds healthy soil,

which allows more

nutrients and water

to be held in the soil,

but also then uses

less water to irrigate the crops

(inaudible chatter)

Local Philippi Farmers want the

city to change their mindset.

From seeing this as a business

opportunity to one

where it becomes

a provision of service

to them and nature.

(inaudible chatter, waves, wind)

The smell is just horrible

and I am so fed up

because when it's like this, the

only thing you can do is close

every single room, window

in your house, all the doors.

Which is not so bad in winter,

but it's really hot in summer.

And then I've also got this

air purifier, which

improves the smell.

But of course it doesn't work

when we don't have electricity.

Repeatedly I've

raised the question

of these toxic gases,

particularly

the hydrogen sulfide,

and my meter

that I used to

have in the garden

showed levels that were higher

than are safe in industry.

The city did install air quality

monitoring equipment, but

it was stolen within a month.

So now fortunately for me,

I found

somebody who's

prepared to loan me

this meter,

which will give me hydrogen

sulfide readings

every three minutes.

Must be really high

hydrogen sulfide levels,

which are definitely

over the WHO

nuisance levels

and I think, affecting people's

health quite seriously.

I think the mayor thought if he

came in with good

management skills,

it would be relatively

easily resolved.

I think it has been a

huge learning curve.

I'm sure he is as frustrated

as I am about the slow progress.

Ms. Marx.

My first one is just a comment.

It's not just a foul odour.

That odour contains a noxious

gas, hydrogen sulfide.

It's a very real health risk,

with many people reporting

adverse side effects.

With regard to the

illicit discharges

into stormwater in Joe Slovo,

there was a survey done

in Joe Slovo recently,

and they found that

37% of households

still had sewage

connected to stormwater.

And then the third that I'm

actually astounded to note

that the city wishes to

push out the completion dates

for Potsdam for

another two years.

So, from a community

point of view,

it causes us to lose complete

faith in what is promised

to us. Thank you.

For us, a common complaint

that Ms. Marx has repeated

is documentation

proving that we have reported

spills and discharges.

So if we can just forward

all of the letters or some,

record of receipts that we

have reported these things.

Okay, we can forward

that? Good.

Er...

A fascinating question.

The city must bear

some responsibility

for why we are where we are.

We have not

invested adequately in,

bulk wastewater treatment

capacity at Potsdam on time.

The construction

sector and engineering

sector must bear

some responsibility

to sub... for subjecting

every single tender

to the most relentless appeals

and challenges.

All squabbling for,

for the money that

the city is prepared to spend,

but only having the effect of

delaying these

projects for years.

Alright, er, water testing,

reported discharges,

two year extension.

Joe Slovo enforcement of sewer,

ill*gal sewer connections.

Can we just make a specific

commitment around

enforcement action?

Mayor, if we see any ill*gal,

you know, connection,

we immediately report to

a sort of a depot to disconnect.

Okay. So, if at our next

quarterly meeting,

you could give us some feedback

on that enforcement action.

Thank you.

Alright, I think that's all six.

Caroline, let's go on to the...

Sorry, its just the

hydrogen sulfide, I believe.

If you could just...

It was more of a comment,

yeah...

I just want to emphasize

the importance. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

(gentle rhythmic music)

The city of Cape Town

is continuing to

plow billions of

rand into

infrastructure upgrades.

The latest, an upgrade to the

Potsdam Wastewater

Treatment Works.

The wastewater that goes through

the treatment process benefits

from this ultra technology,

if you will,

so that when the

wastewater effluent,

the treated effluent,

makes its way back into

the environment,

we know that we're discharging

high quality treated effluent.

(gentle music, wind)

(bubbling effluent)

(birds squawking)

Potsdam is not going to be

finished for three years,

but you're starting to

see the projects kick in.

That's already a

huge improvement and

a burden being

lifted off the lagoon.

It no longer has to try and

absorb all that pollution.

During the winter,

we had really heavy rains

which flooded the lagoon and

washed out a lot

of the pollution.

The water became clean.

The smell was gone, the fish

returned, the birds returned.

I even had seals swimming

outside my house every day.

It was wonderful.

(sombre music)

(bird calling out)

(effluent gushing into river)

(horn-like drone sound)

Two months ago,

there was a catastrophic

sewage line collapse.

The pumps at a major pump

station were damaged,

and the city has been struggling

to repair them for two months,

which has meant enormous raw

sewage spills

into the lagoon again.

The water has turned murky.

The smell has returned.

We see the fish have

started to disappear.

The birds are fleeing again and

it has been quite devastating.

(sombre, horn-like drone sounds)

(effluent bubbling)

That particular wastewater

treatment plant

was held back by ten years

because people

were fighting about

the tender process,

because obviously

when you outsource your stuff,

there's an opportunity

to make money, you know?

I personally think that things

that are for the public good

should be run by

the municipality

with a crew of people

that know what they're doing and

that take pride in their work,

not who try to extract

the maximum profit out of it.

(inaudible chatter)

This has been a

ten year journey.

I became an activist

entirely by accident.

I have learned so much.

I have done things

I never thought I would do,

but I had always

relied on the authorities

to sort things out

and had confidence

in them that they would do it.

And in our case,

they have failed completely

time and time again.

The need to upgrade Potsdam

was identified in 2011.

If I don't service my car for 12

years, I can expect problems.

Now, it seems that

the city is presenting

itself here as the

innocent victim.

It's been a real learning curve

for me to learn to

stand my ground.

You promised to fix it years ago

and it's still not fixed.

That was a huge challenge for me

personally,

and especially to do it

publicly.

I'm quite a reserved person.

I found that quite difficult.

I think it's clear contravention

of the directive.

It's a clear contravention and

knowing contravention

of the law.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

(clapping)

(reflective music)

(wind blowing through trees)

(footsteps and chatter)

The city is not

inevitably inept,

but what the city does,

and this is disaster capitalism

waiting in the wings,

they can't wait to say,

'Oh, we can't do it.

It's too difficult.

Clearly we can't.

We need the consultants and

the corporates to take over.'

So, from the person who comes

to install that meter,

it's all private companies

that are taking tenders

and they are getting commission

for every meter

they install, and they don't

care whether you want it or not.

They need their commission

so they will install

that meter on your property.

There's a real crisis out there,

but it's up to us to

take that issue on.

(clapping)

Almost 80% of all water services

are currently run by the state.

But in the next ten years, this

is going to be reduced to 35%.

So you see an

opportunity, right?

Because there's

money to be made.

And when a company runs it,

they run it to make money.

Its a business model.

They need to make money.

So they will have to

charge people more.

Can I just give you a few

country examples here.

Of course, starting in Germany,

because we are

today in Berlin...

Across the Global North, these

corporates have their eyes

on the Global South because

there is money to be made.

And so the next frontier,

as it were, with the same kind

of unfolding of capitalist

and colonial expansion,

are water markets

in the Global South.

That's the new blue gold.

Africa's fast shrinking urban

water supplies have started

a wave of privatizations

and public private partnerships.

Leading government agencies

like the United Nations

have been convinced

that governments

simply do not have

the money to invest

and need the private

sector to step in.

(inaudible chatter)

You now have

the financialization of water

and what they

call water futures,

so you can buy future water

on the stock exchange.

(street sounds,

traffic, footsteps)

Water is the new

blue gold for business,

because business is always

running around the world

to see what they can commodify.

What can they make,

to sell for a profit.

So the water is also now

on the stock exchange.

They can now buy as much water

as they want to buy and say

I want that water in 2030,

but I'm buying it now.

Trillions and trillions of

liters of water.

I want that water in 2030.

Climate change is real.

We are going to face droughts.

So, say that drought

comes in 2030,

that bro has got so much water,

he can sell it to us

for whatever price

he wants to.

So he's going to

sell it to municipalities

for whatever price he wants to.

And therefore,

we have to pay for it.

(water hitting rocks)

(contemplative music)

Good government

underpins economic growth.

Economic growth

underpins investment

and investment and economic

growth both lift

people out of poverty over time.

We also know that

a growing economy

requires constant infrastructure

investment that keeps pace with

our fast growing

city population.

Successful cities are

those who are always

building and investing

in new infrastructure.

When you stop building,

you stop growing.

(music and

construction activity)

Growth, as it's

commonly understood,

only really ever

benefits the rich.

It's become the altar

we must all now bow before,

and is part of a politics

that so often displays

a contempt for the poor.

(wind,

construction vehicles and music)

The current growth and

development model, which

will supposedly trickle down

to have money for what he calls

the poor, isn't working.

It's the cause of the problem.

It's the cause of why

we have the drought.

It's the cause of why

we have climate change.

It's a system

based on extraction.

(ocean, wind and passing ships)

(reflective music)

(gardening sheers

being used for pruning)

Urbanization that has happened

since the collapse of apartheid

is another form of apartheid.

It's the continual,

tearing of people,

from the land.

Now the land is

seen as... as nothing,

as just... just, you know,

a piece of a commodity.

For over ten years,

the Philippi Horticultural Area

Food and Farming Campaign has

been advocating

for the protection

of the area and eventually

saw victory

when Judge Kate Savage

ruled in their favor.

(faint victory song

of activists)

The aquifer in this area

is very, very important.

It must be protected.

And this is the reason why the

judge suspended the approvals

for this development.

If the developer decides

to fight it even further,

we're going to skip the Supreme

Court and we want to go straight

to the Constitutional Court,

because our biggest argument

here is food security.

And so it becomes

a human rights issue.

So we'll take it

to the Constitutional Court.

Well win eventually.

(sombre music)

(inaudible chatter)

They switched off the

wrong persons water.

Yeah.

And as you can see there,

they still owe my mother.

- Yeah.

- 5,700 rand.

They owe her money and

she now called them

and they said

'No, there's no

mistake at your house.

There's no water

cut off at your house.'

Here, theres a small trickle of

water that comes out of the tap.

By the end of the month,

its cut off altogether.

If youre already struggling

with the 350 liters

how bad will it be when the

waters dripping out of the tap?

How do you flush a toilet

with a pipe that drips?

So were here to say, join us.

Were from different areas.

Shes from Hillview,

shes from Beacon Valley,

Mfuleni,

Capricorn,

Nyanga.

There we go.

Unity is power.

You know what that means?

Unity is power.

Every signature is a win.

Every signature is a win.

(clapping and chatter)

Okay, so we are officially done.

Don't worry, don't even worry.

Our concerns don't stop at home.

The concern stretches

up to the end of the community

and even further.

We need that unity.

We need to be able

to struggle in unity

because we will

only win in unity.

So, after ten years

of fighting developers and

sand mining companies,

we have finally

secured 100 hectares

that now forms part

of the land reform

of the Philippi

Horticulture Area.

We want to see

restorative justice

for our people here.

I don't believe

the situation will fundamentally

change until people

start to be fired

for not doing

their jobs properly

or until they are jailed.

It's only then

that the legislation

will be taken seriously.

Because theres paperwork and

thats why its not so heavy.

Take it inside.

I think for us to be able

to take back our water

and fight for our water,

we also still need to protest,

take the people

out on the streets

because government

is not listening to us.

So I think the only

way they listen to us

is when we go

out to the streets.

But this is our protest, us

taking the commons, making sure

that we have our own water,

starting our

own community water

management systems.

This is a form of protest.

This is us saying we can do it

if you're not able to

or you're not willing to,

because I think

that's the issue.

Can we end this human tragedy

that is continuing

to unfold before us?

(reflective music)

Perhaps protecting nature

and the water it provides from

the take,

make and waste approach

is the only way we can defend

the most vulnerable amongst us.

(flowing water)

Surely it's time to work

with the life force

that nature provides

and not against it.

(water trickling down rocks)

Changing direction

means nature's

wealth needs to be

held in common

and shared equally.

Maybe it's time that

we place humanity

and nature at the center

of all our considerations.

(wind, distant waves)

(contemplative music)