The podcast about water that might just change your life. For Water For Life tells the extraordinary stories of 12 ordinary women and men who have made it their life's work to protect, preserve and replenish the water supply in their unequal and water-scarce country, South Africa. From indigenous knowledge to cutting edge science, each episode reveals the challenges and insights of these geologists, healers, innovators, farmers, organisers and activists. Disclaimer: This podcast series is brought to you by JoJo in the interests of conversations around water. The opinions and comments made in the episodes do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints a...
Latest episodes
-
21 min
Imitating nature to reimagine how we use water
Biomimicry, or innovation inspired by nature, has given us technologies and inventions such as the aeroplane, sonar, and even velcro. The Namib Desert Beetle is a fascinating creat…
-
26 min
Testing the waters
KwaZulu-Natal is one of South Africa’s most water-rich provinces, with sparkling wetlands, dams and rivers that are home to a vibrant array of wildlife, and a hub of water sports l…
-
20 min
Planet Ocean
Humans have an ancient relationship with water. When we free-dive, and hold our breath to journey deep into the ocean, our mammalian dive response kicks in. This is the same biolog…
-
30 min
Water in the information age
The information age, and the internet in particular, has fundamentally shaped how we live our lives today. And IoT, or the Internet of Things, pushes the information we can draw fr…
-
27 min
A brief history of water on Planet Earth
In this episode of For Water For Life, hosts Gugulethu Mhlungu and Michelle Constant facilitate a conversation that’s a little different than usual. With the help of Thato Tshuku…
-
25 min
Running out of water
Does the answer to South Africa’s water shortage problems lie in mining the salt from our rivers? There aren’t many people more knowledgeable (or passionate) about South Africa’s n…
-
25 min
The life of a river
Through his obsessive search for the source of Johannesburg’s Jukskei River, journalist Sean Christie has journeyed below the city and dug up some fascinating, and at times squalid…
-
22 min
Water and security
The South African Constitution is clear: “Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water.” But how that plays out in practice is what Elizabeth Biney of Equal E…
-
25 min
Building better cities
The relationship between water and how we build our cities is complex. Water is integral to so many building processes; it is used in excessive amounts when we pour concrete and in…
-
18 min
Water doesn’t come from a tap
Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa and Yazeed van Wyk are researchers with the Water Research Commission, a South African state entity that wants to find innovative water solutions through resear…
-
22 min
Defending the pale blue dot
Lewis Pugh is the United Nations Patron of the Oceans. As an endurance swimmer, he has completed a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world and has pioneered more swims aroun…
-
20 min
A sacred wetland in the city
As the Biodiversity Project Manager of the Princess Vlei Forum, Denisha Anand is passionate about working to rehabilitate and conserve Princess Vlei, a wetland in the Cape Flats. T…
-
1 min
For Water For Life - Season 2 - Trailer
#ForWaterForLife is a podcast that tells the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in a water-scarce and unequal country. For season 2, hosts Gugulethu Mhlungu and Michelle Cons…
-
29 min
The voice of the natural world
Her name is not just a name, but an urgent imperative to build or establish something, and what Makhadzi Vho-Mphatheleni Makaulele has spent a lifetime building is truly great. She…
-
28 min
How to be an eco warrior
“Our Mother Earth is on fire, and we have to stop her from burning…because [she] is in our hands, we have to take her.” This was the message youth climate activist, Yola Mgogwana p…
-
29 min
Struggle Against Phosphate Mining in Cape West Coast
Nicola Viljoen describes the Langebaan Lagoon as the jewel of South Africa’s West Coast. It’s not hard to see why when we consider the beauty of the lagoon and the astonishing natu…
-
26 min
Healing Waters
Gogo Mahlodi is one of thousands of izangoma living and practicing as a diviner, healer and indigenous knowledge keeper in Johannesburg. Through her practice, she routinely sees ho…
-
23 min
Mining Liquid Gold
For Dr Dyllon Randall, there is a real opportunity to apply the lessons the natural environment is teaching us about closing the loop on waste streams, and he believes it can be do…
-
28 min
Resistance is Fertile
For Nazeer Sonday and the urban farmers of the PHA, the immediate goal is to secure the aquifer, the water and every person who relies on it for their food and for their livelihood…
-
25 min
Water for the Future
From curb-cutting to build street-side seating places which double as sustainable urban drainage systems to weaving fences with alien invasive plant species to keep litter from blo…