Fresh Eyes on Our Urban Waterways

The purpose of Water Stories is to celebrate the work of our Water Protectors and to present clear information about Cape Town’s urban water cycle and what we can all do to co-create a resilient and just system in which people and nature can thrive.

Cape Town sits in and around rich wetlands and waterways that are literally our safety net for the future. Yet they are being used as a sewer and waste dump.

Dr Nikiwe Solomon of Environmental Humanities South, University of Cape Town (UCT), one of our collaborative partners, has been focusing her attention on the Kuils River and other water bodies that have been impacted by failing waste water infrastructure and services in Cape Town. Her work looks at the different ways of relating to waterways and understandings of what a river means, and how these differences feed into conflict and water pollution.

On World River’s Day in September 2022 she added her perspective to a lively Youth Voices of the Round Table podcast on how we can restore urban waterways and wetlands, which are a critical component within the built environment for liveability, biodiversity and climate change adaptation.

This collaboration between the Talking Transformation podcast and Young Urbanists South Africa explores contemporary dreams for our African cities that emphasise the needs, aspirations and solutions of the youth.

Nikiwe was joined by Councillor Alex Lansdowne who heads up the Section 80 Water Quality in Wetlands and Waterways Advisory Committee, and Bridget Pitt an activist and writer who is part of the Princess Vlei Forum, living on the Liesbeek River.

Bringing perspectives from academia, activism and the City of Cape Town, they explored a vision around healthy urban waterways and wetlands, how the initiatives they are involved with contribute to that, what are the barriers to achieving this vision, and how including all hands and voices in the solutions is key.

Take a listen and be inspired!

Read more for a deeper dive into Nikiwe’s work, check out the first in a series of three blogs on the Kuils River.