Campaigners in Cape Town, South Africa confront the socioeconomic and environmental problems in the city’s water management system.
After three years of poor rainfall, in 2018, Cape Town announced drastic action to avoid running out of water completely. In this film, three activists fight for “water justice” and expose the socioeconomic divide and the environmental “cracks” in South Africa’s water management system. In Cape Town’s “Day Zero” water crisis in 2018, Faeza Meyer fought against water cut-offs affecting poor communities, Caroline Marx tackled sewage pollution in a local lagoon, and Nazeer Sonday defended precious groundwater from industrial developers. The film examines how market-driven water management increases the rich-poor divide and contributes to broader environmental issues in South Africa. It exposes the systemic problems behind the 2018 crisis – and the complex relationship between economic policies and access to this vital resource. It emphasises the need for sustainable solutions to growing environmental problems – and is a reminder of the importance of water management and conservation at a time of increasing climate uncertainty.