Water in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa’s average annual rainfall is less than 500 millimetres a year, compared with the world average of about 860 millimetres. The driest (western) part of the country receives less than 200 millimetres a year. This classifies South Africa as a semi-arid country. Most rain falls in the narrow belt along the eastern and southern coasts. The wettest part of the country receives an average annual rainfall of more than 2 500 millimetres. The rest of the country receives only about 27% of South Africa’s total rainfall. South Africa is prone to erratic, unpredictable extremes in the form of droughts and floods. Many dams have been built over the years to store water, protect areas from floods, and bring water from areas where there is a lot of water to areas where more water is needed. The country also has a low runoff rate (the water that does not become absorbed by the earth after, for example, a rain storm, but flows across the surface into a river or stream). On average, only some 9% of rainfall reaches the rivers as runoff. There are few natural lakes in South Africa.

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