Simelane calls for greater groundwater investment amid rising SADC climate shocks

By Thapelo Molefe

Human Settlements and Acting Minister of Water and Sanitation Thembi Simelane has called for urgent, coordinated investment in groundwater as Southern Africa faces escalating climate shocks, warning that droughts, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather are already undermining development and placing millions at risk.

Opening the 7th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Groundwater Conference in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday, Simelane said the region could no longer afford to treat groundwater as a secondary resource.

 Across Southern Africa, the manifestations of climate change are no longer abstract projections but lived realities,” she said, listing prolonged droughts, devastating floods and unpredictable rainfall patterns as growing threats to water security.

Simelane told delegates that groundwater had proven to be one of the most reliable buffers in a climate-stressed world, yet remained “undervalued, under-managed, and under-invested across much of our region.” 

She said the conference’s theme, “Investing in Groundwater for Climate Action,” reflected