Abstract:
Short of affordable and clean potable water poses high risk to health of human beings globally. Water scarcity is a challenge that affects all
countries across the globe and this is more prominently felt in rural communities of poorer countries. In recent years, South Africa has faced
severe droughts limiting portable water supply to rural areas of the country. Developing an alternate water security strategy for rural communities
in South Africa can assist local government to manage water systems successfully. This paper illustrates the process of building a water supply
strategy using the case of water management in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. These provinces experience a high
challenge of water supply and access due to lack of water services, and challenge of building stakeholder support for resource management
strategies. A number of rural communities were visited, water samples collected from boreholes, rivers, dams and taps around the two provinces.
From chemical and other test, we established the quantity and quality of water sources around the two provinces. System dynamics and system
analysis approach are used in this paper to model the existing water resource management and map out its frailties and limitations. A model to
connect a system of boreholes and nearby water sources was then developed. The results, it is observed that the reliability and improvement of
water system for rural areas was achieved through these approaches. The results show enhanced abstraction of water from sources within the
communities that can secure water in these rural communities.
