Political economy of water reallocation in South Africa: Insights from the Western Cape water crisis

Abstract

The severity of the recent drought combined with significant population pressure in the Western Cape Province has exposed flaws within extant water resource governance structures and institutional arrangements in South Africa. Equity driven water (re)allocations are at the heart of post-Apartheid water reform and have become a highly contested space within and between rural and urban spheres. Equity-efficiency trade-offs are simultaneously the primary driver of and barrier to effective reallocation, closely interwoven with centralised institutional structures and the disjuncture between policy and legal reallocation objectives. This analysis highlights the risks associated with not addressing reallocation challenges. Thus, providing insight into the nuanced yet critical role reallocation can play in maximising benefits associated with managing water and development across increasingly integrated rural-urban systems.