The Impact of the Taung Dam Irrigation Scheme, South Africa, on Local People and the Environment, 1977-2023

Abstract

This study is a historical analysis of the socio-environmental impact of the Taung Dam Irrigation Scheme on the region’s people and environment dating from its inception in 1977 to 2023. To do this the historical method of inquiry was mainly followed while also engaging the multidisciplinary nature of regional history. The study relied on primary and secondary sources and was interpreted from a large corpus of historiography on dam irrigation projects from across the world. Additionally, a part of the approach included in the historical method was to cover diverse community and leadership perspectives from the top down and bottom-up, and to thoroughly scrutinise these voices through a process of internal and external source criticism. An important part of the research was to understand the purpose behind the irrigation scheme since its history shows that only the dam component of the irrigation scheme was completed. Other and especially recreational uses that have since been featured, are covered to some extent. The years between 1977 to 1990 which marks the period of planning the scheme are inundated with political, social, and agricultural nuances as the history of the movement of people and their livelihoods in agricultural practices are contextualised. The timeframe for the completion of the Taung Dam (1990-1993) raised suspicion among some community members (as interviewees) as they relay stories of illicit diamond mining in the vicinity of the Harts River near Manthe village. Additionally, some Environmental Impact Assessments published more than a decade after the completion of the Taung Dam revealed that the scheme could and would never be able to fulfil its intended purpose as a source of additional irrigation. This was due to the poor inflow rate from the Harts River that feeds into the dam. Key motivators for the Taung Dam were therefore captured within three main thoughts, which are, firstly, enshrined in the political socio-economic goals of the newly established Bophuthatswana government in 1977. Secondly, the growing irrigation agriculture sector in Taung features strongly, despite the under-developed state of the existing Taung Irrigation Scheme as part of the adjacent Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme. Lastly, and perhaps most controversial is a growing awareness of the role of illicit mining activities within the 20 km2 radius of the Harts River near Manthe. The history of the socio-environmental impact of the Taung Dam Irrigation Scheme focuses mainly on the dam’s development, subsequent loss of habitat and natural plant life, and its socioeconomic outcome as other ventures towards its utilisation have been attempted until 2023 in planning reports and articles, and a displaced community’s memories and recent views of it. This is done to add to the field of water and regional history as very little on the topic of irrigation histories for South Africa’s homelands era has thus far featured.