BUSINESS
TIME FOR COLLABORATION
Commentary by Rob Rein
The recent water crisis should spur all critical stakeholders on to collaborate on working around natural and man-made catastrophes.
Natural and national disasters have a way of jolting communities and societies into common action. They often deal us a harsh reminder that we are inhabitants of a shared planet with shared resources, which we all need to thrive. To survive them, natural disasters require collaborative efforts by various society actors, working together to achieve a stated common goal.
The Western Cape water crisis is one such example that requires different actors to collaborate, with an objective of minimising the impact of water shortage on both communities and businesses. It requires common action to stave off the disastrous impact of Day Zero, now in 2019.
Informed by this reality, working with the Western Cape Provincial Government, Green Cape, and other critical stakeholders, PPC recently hosted an industry workshop in Cape Town to explore ways through which industry players can contribute to conserving and preserving water while sustaining the local economy.
The crisis demands of various actors to be innovative and compels us to reevaluate our current strategies, possibly developed in times of water abundance. The industry, including big and small players, needs a complete mind shift now that we are confronted with a new reality.
The truth of the matter is that South Africa is a water-scarce country, and the Western Cape water crisis will not be the last one to affect the country. As several workshop participants warned, businesses, households, and individuals must adjust to the‘ new normal’— not only to stave off Day Zero in the Western Cape, but because water scarcity is a scary reality for the entire country.
A point to note is that the Western Cape Provincial Government’ s projections are that the dry spell cycle will possibly last for between three and four years, and the water tariffs will remain in force for a long duration. Evidently, it cannot be business as usual for the industry. In the Western www. socialventurepartners. org
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JUNE 2018