Southern Africa in water crisis – A case study of the Pangara River water shortage, 1987–1996: Towards a resource-based conflict management and resolution perspective

Abstract

This paper is organised in three parts. The first is an assessment of the nature of the environmental and regional weather patterns leading to predictable water shortages. This is followed by the case study of the Pangara River community. Analysed at the micro-level, as the community tried to grapple with the gradual onset of lack of water, it is hoped that the principles brought out can be anticipated at the regional level. The final part briefly draws on the earlier discussion putting forward suggestions and recommendations for the establishment of a regional mechanism for managing the water system.