Why reject Israel’s offer of help?

DAY zero, when the taps run dry, looms, if not this year, then next.

The consequences of drought can be seen all over the country; we see it now in Beaufort West and the Great Karoo.

With a burgeoning population over the past 20 years, and continuing growth and lower rainfall expected, we are staring a calamity in the face.

Cape Town’s dams began visibly receding over the past three summers. This problem was exacerbated by inefficient irrigation and the lack of a long-term plan, including desalination.

In 2016, officials at Israel’s embassy, with decades of experience in water security in a desert environment, alerted national, provincial and local governments in South Africa. Israel has trained water technicians in more than 100 countries, and it offered to bring in experts to help South Africa.

South African officials, for what appeared to be ideological reasons, ignored or rebuffed the no-stringsattached Israeli proposal. We wanted no help from Jerusalem.

The government persists in its negative political stance where it seems to be ready to sacrifice the wellbeing of its citizens rather than to ask for help from Israel.

Why South Africa insists on taking this dangerous route is a mystery.

Israel has developed an apolitical, technocratic form of water governance that it shares with its Arab neighbours. Israelis pioneered desalination, drip irrigation and the specialised reuse of treated waste water in agriculture.

Although Israel is in the fifth year of a drought, today its citizens can count on abundant water.

RODNEY MAZINTER Camps Bay