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Speaker 1: Crystal Ortison, our Africa analyst, joins us. We look at

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Speaker 1: what's breaking news on the African continent and I think

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Speaker 1: very important stories that she brings to our attention. Water

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Speaker 1: as we know his life and South Africa has relied

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Speaker 1: heavily on Lasuitsu for its water needs and we've been

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Speaker 1: paying for that. But now Lasuto has raised the red flag.

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Speaker 1: They say it's time to re look at what South

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Speaker 1: Africa is paying for water from the lasuit to Highlands

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Speaker 1: water projects. Crystal Ordison, welcome. I think that is such

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Speaker 1: an important conversation. Yeah, tell us more.

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Speaker 2: Yes, good morning, Karen. So in terms of context, the

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Speaker 2: deal and what they call a water accord was signed

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Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty six, which means that Lasuitu supplies around

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Speaker 2: seven hundred and eighteen million cubic liters of water and

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Speaker 2: that provides sixty percent of our economic up which is

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Speaker 2: how things water, which means that counting as a province

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Speaker 2: cannot do without the water. And I actually went to

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Speaker 2: visit one of the dams, the CUTSI Dam Calent and

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Speaker 2: what an incredible engineering seat seeing this just dam that

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Speaker 2: is supplying all these millions of cubic of water, So

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Speaker 2: of course there was an agreement signed tarent and there's

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Speaker 2: money involved. Now this framework is said to expire in

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Speaker 2: twenty forty four. But now the Lasutu government is saying, well,

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Speaker 2: the steel no longer reflects the economic and development priorities,

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Speaker 2: and so we're looking at South Africa has been playing

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Speaker 2: quite a bit for us. It's not cheap. We're looking

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Speaker 2: at those two three hundred million dollars and this accounts

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Speaker 2: for about ten percent of Lasutu's chief DP and so

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Speaker 2: at the moment, South Africa is also overhauling the dilapidated

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Speaker 2: infrastructure and paying for it because there's a whole engineering

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Speaker 2: ingenuity happening with the transfer of the tunnels under construction

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Speaker 2: that will you know, really help with the supply of

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Speaker 2: water because they want to actually increase the two about

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Speaker 2: one billion cubic meters of water and so it's a

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Speaker 2: major economic lifeline for La Suitu. And now they're saying, wow,

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Speaker 2: we want to re look at the steel. Interesting, South

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Speaker 2: Africa has absolutely been a mum. They're not saying anything, Clarence,

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Speaker 2: and it's the Lasuitu government that has raised the three type.

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Speaker 2: But I thought there's an interesting analogy of how we

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Speaker 2: make sense of the amount of water that they supply

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Speaker 2: to South Africa. It is five hundred and eight thousand

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Speaker 2: Olympic sized swimming pool that is full to the broom.

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Speaker 2: So can you imagine that current? That is how much

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Speaker 2: water lasuit to provide to the country. So it's of

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Speaker 2: course when Suitu raises this issue of money, we should

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Speaker 2: be setting up and be like, okay, what is this about.

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Speaker 2: But I think the broader economic context for the Suitu

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Speaker 2: of course currents is there were heavier reliants of course

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Speaker 2: on USAID, those custs and those aid have all but disappeared,

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Speaker 2: so there's a big hole in their fiscus. But the

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Speaker 2: other deal, and I think that's why South Africa is

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Speaker 2: also very quiet, is that we are part of the

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Speaker 2: Southern Africa Customs Union SAKKU, which is South Africa, Nambia,

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Speaker 2: Lasutu is Fatini. And what it happens is that there's

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Speaker 2: a pool of money. And again La SUTI gives quite

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Speaker 2: a considerable amount of money out of that, between forty

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Speaker 2: and fifty percent of their total government reven You actually

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Speaker 2: come from that SACU Customs Union. And what these economists

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Speaker 2: have been working out in terms of the South Africa

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Speaker 2: is actually, in essence, Clarence subsidizing neighboring states, and here

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Speaker 2: in South Africa is quite around the negotiations of renegotiating

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Speaker 2: the water treaty because they also know there's a lot

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Speaker 2: of money at stake. So the talks of sick you

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Speaker 2: resume in April current and we'll keep abreast on how

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Speaker 2: that negotiations are going. I don't think South Africa is

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Speaker 2: just going to sign over a blank check either, but

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Speaker 2: I think your suit is realizing, Look, they have economic priorities.

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Speaker 2: They know that water is essentially the engine of growth

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Speaker 2: or holping, so they know they have a bit of leeway.

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Speaker 2: But I don't think South Africa is just going to just,

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Speaker 2: you know, let the negotiations be a walkover.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. And don't forget there's probably the volume

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Speaker 1: of water I can fall two hundred and fifty thousand

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Speaker 1: Olympic sized swimming pools leaking through problematic infrastructure as well. Okay, yeah,

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Speaker 1: the World Bank warning of social and economic instability in Mozambique,

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Speaker 1: but young people all are seizing the day. Africans are

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Speaker 1: resourceful after all, tell us more.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it's actually it's a story that testa was part

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Speaker 2: of the Katto family alerted me to so we know,

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Speaker 2: we speak extensively Clarents of the reality of Africa, the

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Speaker 2: contestent of young people. They're growing unemployment. Last year we

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Speaker 2: saw the Genesu protest. But in Mozambacon, in my putting particular,

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Speaker 2: young people are saying, well, actually let's do something so

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Speaker 2: and it's something colorful. So what we see is that

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Speaker 2: young men are offering the services of painting your nails.

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Speaker 2: They call it the nail polysh points or street manicurist

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Speaker 2: and basically they you stand in line at a bus

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Speaker 2: stock or taxi rang and they come with their full

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Speaker 2: kick and they do a quick quick manucu the on

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Speaker 2: the street of Maputu Clarents. They offer colors, they offer art,

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Speaker 2: and it's young men and they are saying, look, this

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Speaker 2: is not only paying for things like air tile helping

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Speaker 2: them to feed their families, but it's also helping them

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Speaker 2: to pay for their studies. And so they're blending in

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Speaker 2: self care with a bit of street style. And of

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Speaker 2: course it's also just part of economic survival. And again

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Speaker 2: we see here, you know, with young people in major

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Speaker 2: cities in Mozambique are literally looking at this as a

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Speaker 2: form of job creation and of course offering a service

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Speaker 2: to someone who perhaps has a long hour job, you know,

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Speaker 2: cleaning or working in a factory and doesn't have a

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Speaker 2: luxury to take off an aber manicure, and yere you

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Speaker 2: are you standing in line, You've got a fifty minute

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Speaker 2: break between waiting for your transport and voila, you have

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Speaker 2: locals offering the service, and of course you pay and interns.

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Speaker 2: That money goes very far to support these young people

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Speaker 2: because we've not seen the same type of protease gen

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Speaker 2: z protess in particular for Mozambique. And I thought also

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Speaker 2: reading whilst I was doing research for the story call Parents,

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Speaker 2: to read the fact of the World Bank really raising

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Speaker 2: the alarms out of Mozambique again because they say you

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Speaker 2: about eighty seven percent of the tax revenue to get

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Speaker 2: and so again all that money that's coming in of

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Speaker 2: being used to servicing dead parents, and we see this

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Speaker 2: rural poverty rising, we see urban poverty rising, and so

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Speaker 2: there's real apprecire on living standards and just survival for Mozambique.

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Speaker 2: And so it's great to thing here on the flip side,

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Speaker 2: it's maybe it's not millions of people, but there's enough

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Speaker 2: young people that are taking up the nail board polish

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Speaker 2: boys are doing and you know, trying to eat out

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Speaker 2: and looking by using you know, snail polish and bringing

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Speaker 2: art and color to people's lives.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fascinating. Whether they should include a pedicle you

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Speaker 1: in that mix of service offerings as well. I'm just

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Speaker 1: kind of thinking about my needs. Yeah, a very interesting list, Lsutu.

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Speaker 1: I've been watching this guy. He's doing his travels from

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Speaker 1: from France. His name is Eves. Yeah, so he's a

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Speaker 1: media he's a content generator and that as this bicycle thing.

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Speaker 1: He's been on a journey for three years from France

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Speaker 1: here and now he's going back to France and he's

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Speaker 1: been in La Suito for the past couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: But really beautiful videos coming out of those Lis Suito Highlands.

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Speaker 1: I've actually prioritized it for a bit of a visit

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Speaker 1: as a result as well, where all of that rain

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Speaker 1: that you were talking about comes from. But thank you

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Speaker 1: as always, Crystal Ortison, our Africa journalist and award winning

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Speaker 1: journalist as well our Africa Analyst and the Africa Report.

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Speaker 1: Every Wednesday just after ten o'clock I.

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Speaker 2: Joined the conversation with the conversation you with Cape talk