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Read more: AGENCY AND ACTIVISM
Dr Ferrial Adam is the Executive Manager of WaterCAN, a network of activists committed to providing clean and safe water to South Africa’s citizens. Her name is cited in various news articles, and I’ve heard her speaking on numerous radio shows, particularly since we’ve all been experiencing water loss for days on end. Ferial and I agreed to meet in a nearby café. I got there first and ordered a cappuccino, which came with a free hot cross bun. When she arrived five minutes later, I offered her the same, but she declined. “It’s Ramadan.” But even on an empty stomach, Ferial is a tiny dynamo of energy and a phenomenal multitasker who can send texts while also seeming to focus 100% on me.
My first question is obvious. What is WaterCAN, and how did it start?
FA WaterCan was started by OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) because, before 2022, the government hadn’t issued a single water quality report for 10 years. The previous Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane, decided the situation was so bad that the reports shouldn’t be published, but the new minister, Senzo Mchunu, is something else. His first round of reports came out in the year he started, 2022, and the next last year. He’s trying to fix a damaged department. He can’t create miracles, but he’s got a great team in place, and when people say we don’t have the skills, I want to point and say, “Look over there.”
So WaterCAN started 10 years ago when things were really bad. My PhD was in Activist Citizen Science, as in turning citizen scientists into activists. You know, the old way of engaging with bird watchers or people taking photographs of trees was important. They sent in valuable data, but it didn’t involve them in the decision-making. We need to create agency and activism, and that’s what WaterCAN is about. We did our own water tests in the 10 years when no reports were published and we continue to do that now. We work with a laboratory to get cheap kits that we give people so they can do the tests themselves. We need funding and ask for a donation, but they can also be free to people who can’t afford them. Then, we ask those people to upload their test results to our map. If it’s tap water and it’s bad, I’ll get an alert. People ask why we don’t get alerts for rivers, streams, and beaches. Well, that’s because they’re so polluted, and we’d be getting alerts all the time.
The testing is the starting point. We test for chemicals, phosphates, nitrates, pH, alkalinity, and hardness to see whether it’s good drinking water or not, and then we look at the bacterial side. When people see the results, they’re angry and shocked and ask us what they can do, so now we’re working on the 10 steps after testing. First, if it’s tap water, get another test and don’t drink the water, then get your neighbours to test as well. If their tests are bad, you know it’s not just your house. Please share this information on your community chats, tell everyone in the area not to drink the water and then alert your municipality. After that, the municipality must get involved, sort out the problem and let everyone know when it’s all clear. But then some municipalities won’t get involved, so that’s where the activism comes in. WaterCAN will push using all the elements of activism to highlight the issue – social media, the media in general and informed public protest.
BG Why do some of the municipalities refuse to get involved?
FA Often, they are incapacitated and overwhelmed because of a lack of skills and no funds. There‘s some complacency, too, and frequently, the response is that it’s not my responsibility. It’s the water department’s or the water agencies. There’s so much falling apart, and they’re chasing their tails, but we keep pushing them. We alert the Green Scorpions, and if things still don’t change for the better, we alert the National government because it can’t stand by and watch while everything is literally going to shit. We use all avenues, and if the people responsible still don’t respond, we go to the Human Rights Commission.
BG Do you experience pushback from the departments you criticise and focus on?
FA Johannesburg City Council, the mayor and Johannesburg Water refuse to take our calls, but we use other avenues, and fortunately, Rand Water is working with us. The City Council has released a strategy, but it’s a carbon copy of their previous strategies and doesn’t propose any real solutions. So now we’re meeting with experts and publishing their views and proposals through social media so that ordinary people can use that information to campaign and push for what they know needs to be done.
I haven’t been threatened yet, but it could happen. WaterCAN ran tests when, for five years, Sasol knowingly polluted the Vaal River system with heavy metals and other cancer-causing substances. We tested in 2022 and found vanadium in the soil, but they have so much money they keep pushing the court case until you get tired, so we’ve given our evidence to the Green Scorpions. We also know of a mine in Rustenburg that is polluting the water given to the people working there. The managers issued an interdict against two activists, stopping them from talking about the mine or the pollution. I chased every legal NGO to get help, and one finally did. WaterCAN doesn’t have the funds, but we’ll see what we can do. The court case has been postponed to May.
BG I see the name WaterCAN cropping everywhere, and you manage a huge national network. How big is your team?
FA We have three people in the office here in Johannesburg, someone in KZN and another person in the Western Cape, but at least 25 organisations – a mixture of government and research NGOs – test 110 points across the country every month. They are all volunteers. We also train in different provinces with different people. Two weeks ago, we worked with the South African National Biodiversity Institute to train traditional health practitioners, Sangomas, because they are at the forefront and have indigenous knowledge. I love that traditional health practitioners ask nature for permission before doing anything in the river or using its plants, but to help these people engage with their local government, they need knowledge and data to negotiate with. We’ve given them test kits.
BG It’s an archetypal David versus Goliath story, but there must be some parts you also enjoy.
FA Definitely, like the time I met Nomsa, a traditional Sangoma. It was so empowering listening to a woman who told me they never do anything when the water is stagnant. I mean, that’s obvious, right? But sometimes we forget that kind of basic knowledge. And then, we went to train high school students in Cape Town, who gave me a whole new perspective on these people’s lives. I was there to do the training, but I was learning too. I’m learning all the time.
