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Water Policy in South Africa: Trust and Knowledge as Obstacles to Reform

Author

Listed:
  • Jaqueline Ann Goldin

    (University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA, jagoldin@sybaweb.co.za)

Abstract

The historical patterns of access to water and other areas of public service delivery in South Africa have been markedly skewed. Despite the reversal of the regime and the fact that South Africa is a middle-income country, there are a significant number of people who are water-poor and poor in governance and institutional capacity to manage water. The recurring themes in integrated water resource management, reticulation pipes, weirs and pumps, stream flow regulations, and ecological requirements are dominant in water sector discourse and are alienating for those who do not master the language. There are constraints determined by racial, economic, or social structures that retain and reproduce dominant power relations. The paper considers the relationship between knowledge, agency, and shame and posits that unequal relations of power and knowledge restrict agency, jeopardize the building of trust, and may perpetuate feelings of shame. The role of the state in opening up water policy networks and redressing issues of knowledge, power, and agency is critical. JEL codes: Q25, Q34, Q28, H75

Suggested Citation

  • Jaqueline Ann Goldin, 2010. "Water Policy in South Africa: Trust and Knowledge as Obstacles to Reform," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 42(2), pages 195-212, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:42:y:2010:i:2:p:195-212
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    File URL: http://rrp.sagepub.com/content/42/2/195.abstract
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Haiyan Yu & Mike Edmunds & Anna Lora-Wainwright & Dave Thomas, 2014. "From principles to localized implementation: villagers' experiences of IWRM in the Shiyang River basin, Northwest China," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 588-604, September.
    2. Murwirapachena, Genius & Dikgang, Johane, 2018. "An empirical examination of reducing status quo bias in heterogeneous populations: evidence from the South African water sector," MPRA Paper 91549, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Morales, Margaret C. & Harris, Leila M., 2014. "Using Subjectivity and Emotion to Reconsider Participatory Natural Resource Management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 703-712.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    shame; trust; water; participation; social networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q34 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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