The Mother City took centre stage at one of Southern Africa’s largest water conferences last week.
Cape Town positioned itself firmly at the forefront of national water leadership at the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) Biennial Conference, where approximately 2 000 delegates from government, research, engineering, utilities and the private sector gathered under the theme “Rethinking Amanzi: Securing Our Future”.
As co-anchor sponsor, the City used the platform to showcase its New Water Programme, a sustained investment drive aimed at improving long-term water resilience.
Executive director for water and sanitation Leonardo Manus delivered a keynote address in a plenary session entitled “From crisis to resilience: Future-proofing South Africa’s water and sanitation systems”.
Drought resilience
Drawing on Cape Town’s experience since the 2015–2018 drought, he highlighted the importance of infrastructure maintenance and pointed to the City’s success in reducing non-revenue water from 32% to 25% over the past three years, a key performance target under the Metro Trading Services Reform strategy.
Zahid Badroodien, the City’s Mayco member for water and sanitation, said the City’s role as host offered a chance to display future-forward investments.
“Being the host City for one of South Africa’s largest water-focused conferences, gave us an opportunity to showcase our future-forward investments, from advanced membrane bioreactor technology (MBR) at Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works, to the groundbreaking off-grid full-flush sanitation technology already operational in four of Cape Town’s informal settlements.”
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He acknowledged that Cape Town, like many cities worldwide, faces challenges with ageing infrastructure and century-old water systems, but said many are being addressed through the proactive Pipe Replacement Programme, which replaces 50km of water pipes and 100km of sewer pipes annually.
City professionals also shared expertise in break-away sessions, presenting on water reuse, infrastructure renewal, groundwater management, public engagement and climate resilience.
“As a co-anchor sponsor, we were proud to help bring together the brightest minds in the sector to share solutions that will benefit communities across Southern Africa. Our own experience has shown that resilience is built through sustained investment in infrastructure, embracing new technologies and protecting the valuable water resources we already have as a unified community,’”said Badroodien.
Technical tours gave delegates a first-hand look at four flagship projects. The Cape Flats Advanced Water Reclamation Plant, currently under construction alongside the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works, will use advanced treatment technologies to produce high-quality drinking water from purified wastewater.
Research partnerships
The R2 billion expansion of Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works, completed in 2024, has increased treatment capacity and improved effluent quality while positioning the facility to support the future Faure New Water Scheme.
The City also showcased its partnership with the Water Research Commission and the Gates Foundation to pilot non-sewered sanitation technologies in informal settlements, testing sustainable, water-efficient solutions while supporting local innovation and manufacturing.
Delegates were also shown how flood alleviation projects and integrated river management along the Lourens and Sir Lowry’s rivers are reducing flood risk, protecting vulnerable communities and strengthening climate resilience.
The conference featured more than 80 specialist sessions, over 150 peer-reviewed technical presentations, workshops, panel discussions and approximately 140 exhibitors — one of the largest knowledge-sharing platforms for the Southern African water sector.
