African Wildlife and Environment Issue 68

CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION

a large algae farm in the lower Burdekin catchment. Astaxanthin is a high value food colourant with various health properties that can be commercially harvested from the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) . Significantly South African water resources are highly contaminated with E coli (and other bacteria), so if we had a collaborative political culture we could convert a problem into an industry. When comparing the decision-making processes of both countries, we see a startling difference. In Australia we see a highly responsive government, ready to adapt with policy and legal instruments in response to a changing risk profile, drawing on the expertise of well-funded institutions of science. In South Africa we see a non-responsive government at municipal, provincial and national level, generally rejecting science as being an artifact of our colonial legacy and thus an instrument of oppression rather than development, sidelining the under-funded institutions of science. The big lesson from the Burdekin, specifically relevant to Cape Town as it grapples with the need to ward off the apocalyptic scenario of Day Zero, is that the excessive use of groundwater as planned, will have many complex unintended consequences. Instead of having the scientific community standing outside the decision-making forum, pointing fingers inwards but being ignored, that body of knowledge should be embraced with vigour to search for new solutions. For example, if desalination is used as the basis for water security in a climate change scenario – something that I personally see as being inevitable – how many people know that UCT has developed a cutting-edge technology known as Eutectic Freeze Crystallization? This allows the water recovery from highly saline acid mine water in Mpumalanga to be as high as 99%, with the brine stream capable of being ‘mined’ for chemically pure elements made possible by freezing the effluent at different temperatures. As another example, themanaged aquifer recharge technology that is gaining global traction, can be used to store surplus water from desalination plants, safe from the ravages of evaporation in confined aquifers. This will allow the sustainable use of groundwater, managed in conjunction with desalination and the recovery of water from waste (that uses desalination technologies). In short, maybe the South African water crisis will rekindle the desire to have a national programme of science in the service of society as we see so successfully applied in Australia.

eighteen scientists ranked in order of visibility come from the University of Cape Town (ranked No 1), Wits University (No 2), Pretoria University (No 3), Stellenbosch University (No 4) with Rhodes, UKZN and University of Johannesburg in a tie (joint No 5), and the National Research Foundation (NRF), North West University and University of Free State (UFS) also tied (in joint No 6). Nowhere is the CSIR mentioned. This is highly relevant because it is funded by national resources and is mandated by an Act of Parliament to apply its mind in the area of science, engineering and technology in the national interest. In the case of Australia, and specifically related to theBurdekin, amajor newcommercial venture isbeing rolled out using biotechnology jointly created by the CSIRO and JCU in partnership with a private company, MBD Energy, in which Astaxanthin is harvested from

The city of Townsville, located in Queensland Australia, and the city of Cape Town are both in similar environmental predicaments. The monsoons have not been regular for the last three years in Australia, just as the normal wet season flows have been diminished in the Western Cape. Both cities face an existential crisis in terms of security of water supply on which to grow the future economy. However, that is where the similarity ends. In the case of South Africa, the CSIR (equivalent of the Australian CSIRO) is under-funded and largely invisible. A recent study published in the South African Journal of Science , entitled ‘In the footsteps of Einstein, Sagan and Barnard: Identifying South Africa’s most visible scientists’, shows that the top Best available information showing that Cape Town will run out of water in March 2018 unless unseasonal rainfall on an unprecedented scale fills up the dams. (Data source – engineers within the City of Cape Town)

Algae farm in the lower Burdekin producing commercially viable Astaxanthin using technology jointly developed by the CSIRO and James Cook University in Townsville

Anthony Turton Professor: Centre for Environmental Management, Univeristy of the Free State

Astaxanthin blooms in a commercial race ready for harvesting. In the final stage of production the algae turns red

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9 | African Wildlife & Environment | 68 (2018)