If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. That sensible old adage, initiated in New York City's 1970s water conservation campaign, reminds us of government's focus on individual energy behaviour change (“go to bed early!”), when in reality industrial policy – hyper-subsidies for electricity-guzzling smelters - is to blame for our economy's carbon over consumption, world-leading contribution to climate change and now crippling Eskom load-sheds. Conservation is all well and good when there are explicit water shortages. But that's not generally the case when it comes to South African sanitation. After all, human consumption of raw water amounts to less than 12% of the total, of which the majority is used for swimming pools, non-indigenous gardens, and rich/middle-income folks' hedonistic consumption.

ANEW Civil Society Statement AFRICASAN +5 Durban, South Africa 2008

EU Water Initiative Meeting Minutes Brussels 2005