event 13 Sep 2021 time 13:00 CEST

Webinar // FAO Water Tenure Mondays: Equal but distinct: The fate of customary water rights in South Africa

The Water Tenure Mondays resume on 13 September with: "Equal but distinct: The fate of customary water rights in South Africa” by Dr Tumai Murombo, Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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September 13 | 1:00 PM CEST

Background

Water tenure is a recent concept. A working definition of water tenure is “The relationships, whether legally or customarily defined, between people, as individuals or groups, with respect to water resources”. The concept of water tenure embraces and interconnects various SDG goals, and hence is useful for achieving the Agenda 2030, in particular through the inclusion of the most vulnerable through enhancing equitable access to water, increasing water security and improving climate resilience.

FAO has been continuously working to define the concept in line with the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, unpack its core elements and explore its practical implications. The project "Knowing water better: towards fairer and more sustainable access to natural resources - KnoWat" has proposed a water tenure assessment methodology to map the diversity of coexisting water tenure arrangements and is testing the methodology in Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Senegal. In the North African region, the project “Water efficiency, productivity and sustainability in the NENA regions” is also working to strengthen water governance approach.

About the event

Dr Murombo will present the case of the customary law as a source of water rights in South Africa and the implications for the amendment to the National Water Act.

The webinars are held in English with simultaneous interpretation to French.

About the webinar series

The Water Tenure Mondays webinar series creates a forum for building a stronger water tenure concept and pursues FAO’s efforts in broadening the knowledge base of its application to achieve a more equitable and secure access to water, even in conditions of scarcity. It aims to refine our understanding of the water tenure concept and contextualize its various elements with a series of case studies, review ongoing initiatives and methodologies applied. The series is targeted to policymakers, water professionals, and researchers from all over the world.

About the speaker

Dr Tumai Murombo
Dr Tumai Murombo

Dr Murombo is a Professor of Law at Wits University and former Director of the Mandela Institute. He is an admitted to practice law in Zimbabwe. He is an expert in environmental law, energy and climate change, sustainability, extractives and the environment, water law and governance, among others. As an NRF rated researcher, he has researched, advised governments and civil society organizations on these areas. Dr Murombo co-founded and is board chair of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA). He sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of African Law and is a member of the Water Tribunal (South Africa), the Environmental Law Association (South Africa), the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, its Environmental Law Academy and the Working Group on Climate Change and Energy.

Registration

Register here for the Zoom event.

Further information

To keep you updated on the Water Tenure Mondays, access the material of the past sessions and check the full calendar of events, visit the dedicated webpage.

Past events of the Water Tenure Monday

- Webinar // FAO Water Tenure Monday “Water Tenure in Spain: a SOAP Approach

- Webinar // FAO Water Tenure Monday: The interface between customary and statutory water rights

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