Dr Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura

Cape Town, South Africa | The water governance system in Cape Town is flawed, as evidenced by the city's recurring water supply shortages. This defect resulted from rapid climate change and the related challenges confronting the city's water governance system.

Cape Town is a South African coastal city with a Mediterranean-like climate, characterised by hot and dry summers. Over the years, the city has experienced rapid urbanisation and recurrent droughts, the most striking between 2015 and 2018. This particular drought resulted in an acute water shortage, rendering the city's water governance system ineffective, paralysed, and requiring an overhaul. The system’s ineffectiveness has led to widespread dissatisfaction among city residents and the South African population as a whole. This dissatisfaction is rooted in the 2018 Day Zero water crisis, which triggered strong community involvement and awareness around water conservation. Given the similarities in the Cape Town situation and other urban centres across Africa, such as Lagos in Nigeria, Lomé in Togo, and Praia in Cape Verde, an emerging trend is evident in cities assuming a new status of smartness.

Smart cities are technology-driven spaces that offer an innovative approach to addressing social challenges while enhancing urban resilience in the face of rapid climate change. Especially in water governance, smart technologies provide innovative solutions for improving a community-driven water governance system. This is because the community plays a significant role in the sustainable management of water resources. With the integration of smart technologies, real-time data for monitoring, management, and early warning systems on water supply is provided. Leveraging smart technologies can help promote smart metering, address water scarcity, improve decision-making in water distribution, and strengthen community involvement in achieving climate adaptation targets.

Moreover, it promises to enhance water safety through water treatment technologies such as passive chlorination and ultraviolet disinfection, as Cape Town relies solely on surface water sources. Equally, in the city, integrating smart technology into water governance promises to be relatively straightforward. This is given that the city is already embarking on innovative solutions to address water scarcity, such as desalination and recycling projects. These moves encompass sustainable water management techniques, such as reducing water use, reuse, recycling, and recovery. These techniques are crucial for addressing water scarcity and climate change while preserving the urban environment.

Dr Tafadzwa Maramura’s research explores the potential integration of smart technologies with the city's water governance systems, aiming to foster a community-led water governance system that enhances the city's climate resilience and promotes a sustainable water supply. In pursuit of this objective, the study examines the current state of water governance, explores existing and potential smart technology applications, and assesses their impact on community-led water resilience. Using a mixed-methods approach combining desktop research, key informant interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions with community members, the study aims to advance existing water governance initiatives by incorporating smart metering, digital twin technology, and AI-driven solutions.

The research focuses on enhancing community participation and promoting sustainable water management practices, while contributing to the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings will provide a framework for implementing a community-led smart technology adoption and implementation framework in water governance systems, potentially benefiting other regions facing similar water scarcity challenges. Her study complements the existing use of technology in advancing water governance initiatives such as smart metering, water purification, improving water supply efficiency, and community-led water governance by integrating smart technology. The existing water recycling infrastructure in Cape Town requires further technological integration to enhance process efficiency while ensuring the safe production of reclaimed water.

When integrated into Cape Town's water governance systems, these technologies promise to make the city more resilient to climate change. In addition, smart technologies promote the entrenchment of social justice through community participation.. With the potential of smart technologies to provide unhindered access to active participation, existing inequality and marginalisation among people in the city can be eliminated, while promoting responsible water usage. 

Dr Maramura’s study will focus on Mitchells Plain as the primary site for data collection. Mitchell’s Plain is a reasonably large community with diverse residents, including formal and informal housing, middle– and low-income earners, and established community organisations. This study is considered appropriate, given its diversity and the history of water management challenges, as well as the existing community-led water conservation initiatives in Cape Town. Specific target communities within Mitchell’s Plain are Tafelsig, Westridge, and Lentegeur.

Dr Tafadzwa C. Maramura is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the University of the Free State, South Africa. She holds a PhD in Public Management and Water Governance from North-West University, which she completed in two years, graduating as Valedictorian. She also holds a Master of Public Policy (Valedictorian), an Honours degree in Public Policy and Administration (Cum Laude), and a Bachelor of Social Science (Cum Laude) from the University of Fort Hare. Her research specialisations include water governance, sustainable service delivery, smart technologies in public management, and inclusive policy reform. Her current research focuses on integrating smart technologies into community-led water governance systems to support climate adaptation in South Africa. Dr Maramura is a Y2-rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and serves as a Catalyst for the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS). She has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and five book chapters and has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences.