Agri SA says the race quotas required by the draft amendments to the regulations pertaining to water use licence applications would have devastating consequences for food security and the sustainability of the agricultural sector if they are passed in their current form.

According to the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) draft regulations, certain enterprises applying for water use licenses to take or store water, will in the future have to allocate shares of up to 75% to black South Africans in order for such water use licenses to be granted.

Agri SA in a media statement issued last week said focusing solely on ownership, to the exclusion of all other relevant factors, will mean the loss – or partial loss – of water resources for numerous currently viable commercial farming enterprises.

Similar requirements are also prescribed in the draft with respect to so-called ‘stream flow reduction activities’, essentially commercial forestry plantations. The regulations also make provision for hydraulic fracturing, which is a further risk and threat to food security, said AgriSA.

The prescribed minimum black South African shareholding requirements of 25%, 50%, or 75%, required for a water use license to succeed depends on the volume of water abstracted or stored, or the area covered (in the case of commercial forest plantations).

“The proposed regulations are seen as the DWS’s most radical and sweeping effort to date toward changing the demographics with respect to water use in South Africa. The agricultural and forestry sectors appear to be the primary target of the proposed regulations.

The agricultural sector accounts for approximately 60% of South Africa’s total water use. It is worth noting that the proposed regulations exempt mining companies, the state and state-owned entities, as well as 100% black-owned entities.

“Agri SA is of the view that the proposed regulations will have a devastating effect on South Africa’s commercial agricultural sector if adopted in their current form,” said Janse Rabie, legal and policy executive at AgriSA.

“It is well known that the DWS envisages compulsory licensing of existing lawful water uses in the near future – a fact which is emphasised by regulation 13 of the proposed regulations. By far the greatest number of agricultural water uses are exercised in terms of historic existing lawful water uses.”

Agri SA said that water belongs to all South Africa’s people and fully appreciates the importance of achieving an inclusive and fairly representative agricultural sector in our country.

“The consequences that the draft regulations in their current form will have with respect to agriculture and food production in South Africa, will be fatal as it will essentially force the transfer of ownership of the ability to lawfully use water, commercial agriculture’s most crucial input factor,” sais Rabie.