At Lunch's Pulane Nel-Sekepe spoke to Associate Professor in Botany at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Sanet Janse van Vuuren, whose research focusses on water quality, specifically freshwater algae, as well as problems associated with freshwater algae. Listen here:

According to Janse van Rensburg, the water shortage in SA is severe – it is probably much more serious than what most people think. "We can still survive without electricity, but we cannot survive without water. If the low rainfall figures and growing population in our country are considered, the worst is predicted."

She adds that infrastructure deterioration is one of the major causes of water shortages. "Almost 30% of our water is lost due to water leaks caused by the non-maintenance of infrastructure. It is estimated that 70 million litres of treated drinkable water are lost daily due to leaks occurring in our water piping system."

In addition, equipment at purification plants is not maintained and serviced regularly, resulting in multiple sewage spills into our freshwater systems. "Our rivers and dams are polluted to such an extent that severe water quality problems are experienced."