Social Constructions of Water Quality in South Africa A case study of the Blesbokspruit River in the Context of Acid Mine Drainage Treatment

This book details how the water quality of the Blesbokspruit River in Gauteng, South Africa was socially constructed by stakeholders and key individuals in the context of acid mine drainage (AMD) and its treatment. Social constructionism is used as the framing for this research to explain how water is intrinsically social. Findings presented here show that stakeholders are aware that the changes in the physicality of the Blesbokspruit resulted from human interventions and varied uses of the water over the years. Such knowledge, among factors such as the historical context of mining, current coal mining, flows and volumes of water, technology used and processes followed, information and communication, and vested interests influence social constructions of the water quality. What counts as the truth about water varies depending on the individual’s perspective, their purpose, and their individual interests. Further, how one defines water quality influences what treatment processes arepreferred in order to improve water quality.

The book explains why, for example, a treatment process meant to improve water quality gained a bad reputation by the public because of the South African government’s silo approach. The book explains how these social constructions are entrenched in power relations between stakeholders regarding AMD treatment and illustrates how power was used to influence decisions to improve the water quality of the Blesbokspruit. The case presented in this book offers insights and recommendations for policymakers working in water governance, including means to influence social constructions of water quality and ways to clarify roles and responsibilities in pursuit of improved cooperative government.

Suvania Naidoo was born in Durban, South Africa. She is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of South Africa. She graduated with her doctoral degree on 22 October 2021 from the University of Johannesburg. She began researching acid mine drainage and its socio-economic impact since 2011. She presented her research on Acid Mine Drainage at four international conferences: Hiroshima, Japan; Split, Croatia; London, UK and Milan, Italy. She first published with Springer in 2015, an article entitled “An assessment of the impacts of acid mine drainage on socio-economic development in the Witwatersrand: South Africa”. In 2017, she launched her first book entitled “Acid mine drainage in South Africa: Development actors, policy implications and broader impacts”. The book featured in Mining Weekly Magazine. In 2019, the book won her the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Research at the University of South Africa; awarded to candidates under the age of 35 years, whose research is internationally recognised and has made a significant impact in society. She was invited to speak at Sustainability Week 2017, an internationally recognised event to present the findings of her first book, among experts in the field. In 2019, she was invited to speak at the Water Show Africa and served as an Advisory Board Member in 2020. At this event she spoke on some of the findings of the research conducted for this book where she co-presented a workshop with officials from the national government Department of Water and Sanitation and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority; those responsible for implementing acid mine drainage treatment in Gauteng, South Africa. She has been quoted in the South African media on the findings of this research.