The current water crisis in Cape Town will have a minimal impact on Namibia’s imports from South Africa, local business leaders have said.
South Africa is Namibia’s major import partner with about 66 percent of total imports coming from Africa’s second largest economy.
The imports include substantial amounts of horticulture produce from the Western Cape, where the port city of Cape Town is located.
The City, grappling with biting water shortages, recently set 12 April as Day Zero, a day on which non-essential supplies will be cut off.
Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Sven Thieme, believes the effect of the water crisis in Cape Town will be minimal on Namibia, but might lead to an increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables.
“We have thought about it because it is a sister city, but we are not worried at all,” Thieme said in an interview.
He said, in any case, most industries have independent water supplies from the City and have subsidiaries in other parts of South Africa like in Johannesburg.
Thieme, who is also chairman of the Ohlthaver List Group of Companies, which owns a host of subsidiaries, including Namibia Breweries and Namibia Dairies, also said that the water crisis in Cape Town will have no impact on their business.
Namibia Breweries, which has been migrating beer production to South Africa in recent years, announced last year that production volumes at its partly owned Sedibeng Brewery in Johannesburg had surpassed the 450,000 hectolitre mark.
The beer maker’s production in South Africa has been on an increase since the first quarter of 2014, in response to the water shortages that had plagued Namibia’s central area in recent years and following the brewer’s acquisition of a 25 percent stake in Sedibeng Brewery in 2015
Namibian Agronomic Board CEO, Christof Brock, agreed with Thieme on the impact of the drought in the Western Cape.
“I don’t think it will have a major impact, we have discussed it, but I don’t see any problems,” he said, adding that Namibia does not import grain from the province.
Brock said Namibia had a good harvest last year and millers were only allowed to start importing maize from South Africa last week after the local maize was milled.
The country harvested 73,000 tons of maize in 2017.
Meat processing and marketing company, Meatco, also said that the water situation in Cape Town will have no impact on its operations. “No it does not affect us,” Corporate Communications Manager, Rosa Thobias, said.
The City of Cape Town has started massive water-saving efforts in order to beat Day Zero.
“Our desalination, aquifer and water recycling projects aimed at providing additional water are ongoing, but will not provide sufficient supply to help us avoid Day Zero this year. They will, however, help us to become more resilient in weathering our next dry season,” the City said.