umi-umd-5777

308 Pages·2008·2.11 MB·English

ABSTRACT

Title of Document: TRANSBOUNDARY WATER POLITICS:
CONFLICT, COOPERATION, AND SHADOWS OF
THE PAST IN THE OKAVANGO AND ORANGE
RIVER BASINS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

Antoinette G. Sebastian, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008

Dissertation Directed By: Professor Kenneth L. Conca
Department of Government and Politics

Rival use of limited water resources among riparian states is often problematic
and politically contentious. The hydro-politics for transboundary rivers links its riparians
in complex multidimensional networks of environmental, political, economic, and
security interdependencies. In regions where water is politically scarce, expected to
become hydrologically more so, and shared, it may be considered more valuable, thus
potentially rendering cooperation or conflict prospects more significant. Given the
number of agreements, basin organizations, and joint and permanent commissions/
committees, transboundary water cooperation amongst southern Africa basin riparians is
considered high. Still, a riparian state’s competing claims for limited water resources is
often problematic and politically contentious because: (a) water agreements are often not
about water, (b) cooperation does not equal a lack of no conflict, and (c) understanding
the strategic interaction among riparian states as signatories to transboundary river
agreements requires a contextual framework. Water may not be the only story and history
and hydro-hegemony are important.
In this research, the contextual framework focuses on understanding when and
under what circumstances the past, the problem, and the politics interfere with the
prospects of cooperation, or enables riparian behavioral change which, in turn, produces
the desired levels of cooperation. It identifies and explains how South Africa as both
basin and regional hydro-hegemon is driving hydro-cooperation and pursuing its own
self-interests.
This research explores how the geopolitical interests and history condition the
types of environmental cooperation possible in the Orange and Okavango river basins in
Southern Africa. It posits a Maslowian perspective to navigating a hierarchy of obstacles
blocking the journey towards reaching quality cooperation outcomes in order to create
spaces for positive conflict.
Several of the actors are the same in both river basins. There are, however,
differences, which have their origins in history—the shadows of the past. The cases
illustrate how history matters. It drives contemporary politics by forcing governments to
face difficult choices among sets of priorities, which may appear to compromise one
group, unmet needs, or issues over others. History suppresses knowledge, aligns power,
and shapes identity by framing the language of politics and power. By doing so, it
influences hydro-political dialogue.
TRANSBOUNDARY WATER POLITICS: CONFLICT, COOPERATION, AND
SHADOWS OF THE PAST IN THE OKAVANGO AND ORANGE RIVER
BASINS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

By

Antoinette G. Sebastian

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2008

Advisory Committee:

Professor Kenneth L. Conca, Chair
Professor Martha E. Geores
Professor Dennis C. Pirages
Professor George Quester
Professor Miranda A. Schreurs
© Copyright by
Antoinette G. Sebastian
2008
Acknowledgements
Many, many people have my heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude for their
support in completing this dissertation. It was in many respects an example of what
Santiago, the central character from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, discovers – when you
really want something, the universe conspires to help you achieve it. I was
extraordinarily lucky to have Thomas Homer-Dixon, at the University of Toronto, answer
my phone call and direct me to faculty at the University of Maryland (UMD) Department
of Government and Politics. However, I was luckier still to have Dr. Dennis Pirages not
only answer my phone calls, but help me find answers to my questions. At the University
of Maryland, I was fortunate to study under four exceptional expert scholars in the field
of international environmental politics: Dennis Pirages, Miranda Schreurs, Ted Gurr, and
Ken Conca, who would become my Dissertation Chair and guide me toward its
successful completion—Thank you.
I am particularly grateful to the many government officials, scholars, professors,
and others in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa, who made my field
research so productive. You all took time to not only answer my questions but to also
refer me to others, help to arrange interviews, provide me with studies and reports, and
literally open your files and bookcases to me. In particular, I want to thank Tony Turton,
Peter Ashton, Piet Heyns, Jenny Day, Brian Davies, Mary Seely, Robert Hitchcock,
Martin B. Schneider, Richard Meissner, Jeroen Warner, Phera Ramoeli, Reggie Tekateka,
Fawcett Ngoatje, Rui Augusio Tito, Shirley Bethune, Abraham Nehemia, Allan Brown,
Nozibele P. Mjoli (and her sister, Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube), Leo Van Den Berg,
Kahijoro Kahuure, Oliver Chapeyama, and Deborah Kahatano. Many of you remain a
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vital part of my very own personal epistemic community today and have become my
friends—Thank you. Time and time again, all of you responded to my requests for
information and emails, provided “ground truthing” and comments—Thank you.
In South Africa, the Water Research Commission, the African Water Issues
Research Unit, and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry opened their respective
doors so that I might obtain information that otherwise would have been impossible for
me to find here in the United States—Thank you. In Botswana, Lesotho, and Namibia a
similar situation held true at the Ministerial, University, and non-governmental
organizational levels, which included, among others, the Universities of Botswana and
Namibia; the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia; and the Southern African
Development Community Water Sector Coordination Unit—Thank you.
To my family, friends, and connections that made late night runs to the library to
return books, helped me stay organized (to the extent that I was), provided free IT
assistance when my computer failed to cooperate, reminded me when I needed to
complete and submit paperwork to the University, helped me organize local travel
throughout southern Africa and spoke the local languages when I did not—Thank you.
Hats off to: Mrs. Ann Marie Clark, Reg Sutton, my sister Lorraine, my nephew Vasant,
Charles, Freeland, Ina, and Maria V. , and a whole host of others—Thank you from my
heart of hearts for your continued support, good wishes, and friendship throughout this
entire process. Finally, to Dr. Simon Powell Sebastian—my grandfather—Thank you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables.....................................................................................................................vi

List of Figures...................................................................................................................vii

Chapter 1: Introduction and Theories of Conflict and Cooperation.................................1

Introduction.....................................................................................................1
Organization of the Dissertation.....................................................................5
Methodology..........................................................................................8
What are the Politics of Cooperation?.............................................................9
Cooperation Politics......................................................................................13
Environmental Change, Scarcity and Conflict..............................................16
Southern Africa.............................................................................................28

Chapter 2: The Politics of Cooperation..........................................................................40

Introduction...................................................................................................40
LeMarquand..................................................................................................42
The Pyramid - Hierarchy of Cooperation and Positive Conflict.........58
Shadows of The Past.....................................................................................71
Reasoning behind the shadows of the past—history matters..............72
Hydro-Hegemony..........................................................................................82
Hydro-hegemony is neither a negative nor positive............................87

Chapter 3: The Orange-Senqu River Basin.....................................................................90

Introduction..................................................................................................90
Orange-Senqu River Basin Hydro-Politics...................................................95
River Physiography and History...................................................................97
Namibia and the Orange-Senqu River........................................................104
Namibia’s Borders: A Historical Perspective............................................107
The Orange River Conflict--the River has Two Sides.......................115
Lesotho and the Orange-Senqu River Basin...............................................129
South Africa and the Orange River.............................................................135
Agreements, River Basin Org & International Financial Institutions ........144
Introduction.......................................................................................144
The Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM).............................147
International Agreements and Conventions................................................152
Regional Framework for Transboundary Watercourses—SADC Protocol 155
International Financial Institutions (IFIs)...................................................156
Selected Donor Portfolio Profiles.....................................................158
Shadows of the Past....................................................................................162
Conclusion..................................................................................................164

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Chapter 4: The Okavango River Basin.........................................................................175

Introduction................................................................................................175
Okavango River Basin Hydro-politics.......................................................179
River Physiography and History................................................................185
Angola and the Okavango River................................................................197
Botswana—the Okavango River Basin and the Delta...............................207
South Africa and the Okavango River Basin.............................................217
Agreements, River Basin Org & International Financial Institutions........221
The Okavango River Basin Water Commission........................................223
Non-Governmental Organizations concerned for ORB & Delta...............227
World Bank Portfolio of Okavango River Basin States.............................232
Key International Agreements and Conventions.......................................235
Regional Transboundary Watercourse Framework in (SADC).................239
Shadows of the Past....................................................................................242
Conclusion..................................................................................................246

Chapter 5: Research Conclusions.................................................................................256

Summary....................................................................................................256
Revisiting the Shadows of the Past............................................................272
Future Research..........................................................................................274

Bibliography...................................................................................................................278

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Overview of basins shared by continental SADC member countries

Table 2. Select Interbasin Water Transfers (IBT) Involving the Orange-Senqu
River)

Table 3. Multilateral and Bilateral Water Sharing Agreements, Treaties, Protocols,
and Key Studies for Riparian States in the Orange-Senqu River Basin
(OSRB

Table 4. Selected International Agreements-Conventions to which OSRB Riparians
are Signatories

Table 5. Select NGOs Concerned with Water Resources in Okavango River Basin
Countries

Table 6. Selected International Agreements-Conventions to which Okavango River
Basin Riparians are Signatories

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Major Transboundary river basins in Southern African region

Figure 2. Hierarchy of Obstacles to Cooperation - The Pyramid

Figure 3. Map of the Orange-Senqu River Basin

Figure 4. Map of the disputed Namibia-South Africa Lower Orange-Senqu River
Boundary Area illustrating Kudu Gas Fields

Figure 5. Map of the Okavango River Basin its riparian states, and the Okavango
Delta

Figure 6. Map of the Okavango Delta System Ramsar Site in Botswana

Figure 7. Map of the Okavango River Basin and the proposed Rundo-Grootfontein
Pipeline current pipeline scheme

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