South Africa’s opposition party is blasting the ruling African National Congress over draft regulations that would introduce race quotas for water use licenses for businesses.
The proposed regulations (see page 91-92), which were published by Minister of Water Senzo Mchunu on May 19, would prove devastating to business sectors like agriculture and forestry, which reportedly account for about 60 percent of the country’s total water use.
Under the ANC’s new water race quotas, applicants that use more than 250 000 m3 or withdraw more than a set minimum amount from streams need to meet strict racial quotas in order to get access to water – the single most critical resource required for life, livestock, agriculture and industry. Depending on the size of their water need, farmers or companies that have not “allocated” between 25% and 75% of its shares to what the regulations call “blacks,” will be denied access to water. […]
Under these water race quotas, livestock will be left to die from thirst because a farmer has the “wrong” skin colour. Fields will go fallow because those who till it are “undesirable.” Hundreds of thousands of workers, from all backgrounds, will lose their jobs as the parched agriculture and mining industries wither and die. (Democratic Alliance)
The move is being sought as part of the ruling party’s efforts to redress racial injustices under apartheid. In April, President Cyril Ramaphosa's signed the new Employment Equity Amendment Act into law, which implements race quotas for 18 economic sectors.
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“It is now beyond all doubt that the ANC, led by Cyril Ramaphosa, is reintroducing racial discrimination across all sectors of society on a scale not seen since 1994,” opposition leader John Steenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance said in a statement. “They are doing so in order to divide and rule. The ANC knows it is on track to lose its majority in 2024 and it hopes to use race quotas to incite racial division for narrow electoral gain.
“They do not care one bit about the consequences this will have for an economy that is already crippled by ANC-engineered load shedding, the collapse of our currency, and growing capital flight,” he added.
"Equity". Water usage in South Africa will now be determined by race to address past discrimination. 🧐 https://t.co/n6jnfdPiJL pic.twitter.com/1eajUr50B4
— Southern Man (@MagicBelle1) June 2, 2023
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