Everyone, not just Cape Town, must reuse water - provincial minister

In future not just Cape Town, but all towns and communities must be made to clean and reuse water, Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said on Monday.

He was one of the opening speakers at the Planning Africa 2018 Conference taking place in Cape Town this week. The theme is "The Making of Modern African Cities".

Bredell said the cleaning and reuse of water is already practiced elsewhere in the world.

In order to achieve this goal, greater cooperation between the state and the private sector will play a vital role, he believes.

"A lot has been done, but challenges remain. The question is whether we are we are still on track," he said.

Cooperation, not politics

"Only by working together across party lines can we really move forward. We don’t have all the answers. It starts with planning properly. Let us re-imagine our African cities, but (already) do what is possible today."

He said climate change remained one of the big challenges, making it his mission to drive the issue of sustainable and resilient cities in the Western Cape.

• READ: Will Day Zero loom again for Cape Town?

"We cannot keep on expanding and growing without addressing climate change. Cape Town was weeks away from declaring Day Zero, where taps would have been shut," said Bredell.

He emphasised that resources are limited and will come under increased pressure in future.

Nthato Minyuku, president of the SA Planning Institute (SAPI) said planners remained as relevant as ever.

This relevance – as well as integrity – were significant in a world where societies’ fortunes can turn in the blink of an eye, Minyuku said.

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