By Lebone Rodah Mosima
South Africa’s rivers and wetlands are in steep ecological decline, with about 65% of river length and 86% of wetland ecosystem extent threatened.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said that those findings — contained in the 2025 National Biodiversity Assessment — had prompted it to launch a community-based freshwater conservation initiative this week.
The project will draw on traditional knowledge and citizen science, positioning traditional healers as partners in local water stewardship.
Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Sello Seitlholo launched the programme at the Itsoseng Traditional Healers Site in Mabopane, Johannesburg, as part of World Wetlands Day on Monday.
The project, the department said, recognises traditional healers as custodians of sacred freshwater sites and active partners in water resource management.
“Through the programme, traditional healers will be equipped with basic water-quality monitoring tools, formally participate as citizen scientists, and contribute indigenous knowledge to strengthen community-led stewardship, pollution prevention, and sustainable wetland management,” the department said.
Speaking in commemoration of World Wetlands Day, South African National Biodiversity Institute programme officer Zimkita Mavumengwana said the country’s water security challenges go well beyond failing infrastructure and intermittent shortages.
“When South Africans talk about water security, the conversation often turns to taps running dry, ageing pipes or the spectre of another Day Zero. These are real and urgent concerns, but they are only part of the story,” Mavumengwana said.
“The National Biodiversity Assessment 2025 reminds us that the infrastructure delivering water to our homes begins long before treatment plants and reservoirs; it begins in our rivers, wetlands and catchments.”
Mavumengwana said only about a quarter of river length remains in a natural or near-natural condition.
She attributed the decline to pollution, unsustainable water abstraction, habitat modification or degradation, and invasive alien species.
“What often gets overlooked is that rivers and wetlands are not simply “nice to have” environmental features; they are ecological infrastructure,” she said.
She said freshwater ecosystems filter pollutants, regulate flows during floods and droughts, recharge groundwater and reduce water treatment costs.
“The NBA 2025 highlights the outsized importance of Strategic Water Source Areas, which make up only 10% of the land area of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, yet supply roughly half of the water to these countries,” she said.
“When these areas are degraded, no amount of downstream engineering can fully compensate.”
Mavumengwana said the assessment calls for investment in ecological infrastructure alongside pipes, dams and treatment works.
“This is not an argument against built infrastructure, but for a more balanced approach – one that recognises that grey infrastructure and healthy ecosystems can work together,” she said.
She said restoring wetlands, protecting rivers from pollution, managing invasive species and securing natural flow regimes are practical and cost-effective measures to strengthen long-term water resilience.
She said partnerships between government, scientists, landowners and communities had provided evidence that restoring ecological infrastructure can improve water quality, reduce flood risks and create jobs.
“These examples reinforce an important message from the NBA: safeguarding nature is not at odds with development; it underpins it,” she said.
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