Chapter 2

GOLDEN THREADS

Lives depend on keeping Africa’s old-growth grasslands healthy. They feed our herds, they’re water factories, and they mop up carbon pollution from the atmosphere, which stabilises the climate across the globe.

Protecting them from overuse, invasive trees, and increasingly volatile weather extremes calls for collaborations that straddle national borders, private fence lines and the boundaries of over-burdened commonages.

A tale of two dams

In his State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa boasted of the preparations to build the Ntabelanga Dam in the Eastern Cape. However, this R10-billion construction will quickly go to waste if the grasslands above it aren’t repaired, and catchment restoration is dead in the water after government funding cuts and stagnant tendering processes.

Grasslands restoration is as important as engineering solutions to ensure SA’s future water security.

First published in the Daily Maverick.

Storm approaching over a dry grassy field with dark clouds overhead

4 May 2025

11 May 2025

A large, deep crack in the ground extends across a grassy field with houses in the distance and mountains on the horizon under a cloudy sky.

Cross-boundary cooperation key to reversing ‘tragedy of the commons’ in grasslands

Lives depend on keeping SA’s old-growth grasslands healthy. They feed our herds, they’re water factories and they mop up carbon pollution, which stabilises the climate. Protecting them from overuse, invasive trees and increasingly volatile weather extremes calls for collaborations that straddle national borders, private fence lines and the boundaries of overburdened commonages.

First published in the Daily Maverick.