ANC considers limiting number of golf courses

© Don Landwehrle – 123RF.com

The document clearly reflects concerns about golf courses' use of water at a time when its supply is becoming questionable.

According to Rand Water, the approximately 500 golf courses in the country use an average of between 1.2million and 3million litres of water a day.

This volume could, according to the water utility, supply between 3million and 7.5million houses a year.

But not everyone believes golf courses are a drain on resources. Some say they are, in fact, good for the environment as well as job creation.

Bill Swailes, president of the Central Gauteng Golf Union, said golf courses helped in water conservation in that they collected water and helped prevent urban flooding, acting as a sponge and absorbing run-off.

He was surprised by the ANC's stance: "To single us out like this is a bit untoward as there has always been close co-operation between golf and the government.

"Unless golf courses are sustainably managed they will disappear and [this] will lead to illegal occupation," said Swailes. "This destroys the long-term vision of a society."

Water researcher Anthony Turton said that, traditionally, golf courses used a lot of water but there had been a paradigm shift and they were now designed to be water-efficient.

The houses on golfing estates could provide grey water to irrigate the greens, and new golf courses in the US and Middle East used far less water, he said.

The ANC discussion document focuses on water security at a time when a water crisis threatens and municipalities try to recoup revenue from unpaid water bills.

It was recently revealed that Joburg Water does not receive revenue for at least 40% of the water it supplies to residents and business.

The SA Local Government Association - representing 273 municipalities - is reviewing municipalities' provision of 6000 litres of water free to South Africans irrespective of their ability to pay.

Salga is conducting a cost study on services provided by municipalities in general and the outcomes of that study will influence whether it continues to provide free basic water to all.

The ANC document indicates that in the next 15 years it intends:

• Reviewing legislation to facilitate a more equitable distribution of water;
  
• Abolishing water trading and changing the funding model for the development and maintenance of infrastructure; and
  
• Exploring conservation initiatives, "including restrictions on the number of golf courses within a particular radius".

Johan Jacobs, an attorney at Hogan Lovells, said the number of golf courses could be restricted simply by not issuing the required zoning rights, which are controlled by municipalities.

Water licences, issued by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, could be controlled.

A second point in the discussion document is that the government wants to regulate land sales so that rural development and agrarian change can take place.

This, the document says, means "limiting the unsustainable use of land for elite purposes (such as the conversion of prime agricultural land to golf estates)".

This clause concerns rights group AfriForum.

"The government needs to protect agriculture and we are a water-scarce country, but the principle of property rights needs to be protected," said the legal representative of AfriForum Willie Spies.

Earlier this year the ANC said it would champion a policy that no natural person or legal entity could own more than 12000ha of land, or more than two farms.

Source: The Times