Water security has become a global priority, and South Africa is no exception. With climate change, rapid urbanisation, and outdated infrastructure placing immense pressure on water resources, conversations around sustainable solutions have never been more crucial. To explore these challenges, we spoke with Chetan Mistry, Strategy and Marketing Manager at Xylem Africa, to gain insights into the state of water security and the interventions needed to safeguard this essential resource.
A global and local perspective
Globally, water concerns have intensified over the past five to six years. Climate change has accelerated unpredictable weather patterns, and the pandemic reshaped how societies prioritise their resources. According to Chetan, water is an often-overlooked element in conversations about sustainability and infrastructure investment. Historically, electrification and ICT developments have taken precedence, leaving water security on the periphery.
“Unlike internet connectivity or electricity, water is far more important than anything else—it’s a lifeline,” he explains. “For too many decades, other developments have overshadowed the urgent need for sustainable water infrastructure. Fortunately, the conversation is now changing, although investments and rate of change needs to be accelerated.”
Water and social inequality
Water security is not just an environmental concern; it is deeply intertwined with social and economic inequalities. Many underprivileged communities, particularly in rural areas, struggle with limited access to clean water, further exacerbating economic and gender disparities.
“It’s easy to overlook how access to water impacts inequality. In many African communities, women and young girls are forced to travel long distances daily just to collect water,” Chetan points out. “Meanwhile, wealthier communities and developed nations experience fewer disruptions, highlighting the stark contrast in accessibility.”
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) reinforces the need for clean water and sanitation as fundamental to reducing poverty and fostering equitable growth. As water scarcity increases, addressing these disparities becomes more critical.
The role of government, enterprises, and communities
Solving South Africa’s water crisis requires a collaborative approach, bringing together government bodies, enterprises, and communities. Chetan stresses the importance of a “triangle of impact,” where all stakeholders prioritise long-term solutions over short-term gains.
“Each of these entities plays a vital role, but they cannot work in isolation. Enterprises must develop innovative solutions and act responsibly, governments need to implement clear policies and regulations and enforce them, and communities must change their attitude to water (change behaviour) . The challenge is ensuring all three align with a clear goal – water secure communities for all.” he says.
One of the primary obstacles is outdated infrastructure. Many South African cities were not designed to withstand today’s highly populated cities and current extreme weather conditions, making water systems increasingly vulnerable to failure. Chetan highlights that urbanisation is incrementally increasing pressure on the infrastructure at an alarming rate and climate change is causing dramatic damage in an unpredictable way. The influx of people into cities like Johannesburg, where the population increased from 1.5 million in 1980 to 6.5 million in 2025, has intensified demand, further stressing an already fragile system.
The impact of rain and climate change
South Africa’s water crisis is not only about scarcity—it’s also about the mismanagement of excess water. Intense, unpredictable rainfall has led to infrastructure failures, flooding, and wastage.
“Water management is about balance—too much or too little is problematic. Sustained, manageable rainfall is beneficial, but when rain arrives in sudden, overwhelming downpours, it places enormous strain on infrastructure that was never built to handle such extremes,” Chetan explains.
Climate change predictions indicate that extreme weather patterns will become more frequent, necessitating resilient water systems that can adapt to these changes. This includes investing in smart infrastructure, leveraging technology to monitor patterns, and ensuring communities are prepared for long-term shifts.
A call for urgency and awareness
The effects of water scarcity will extend beyond basic consumption—economic stability, food production, and industrial development all depend on a reliable water supply. As seen with South Africa’s electricity crisis, failing to address infrastructure challenges can have widespread consequences.
“Water is intrinsic to everything we do, from agriculture to manufacturing. Many people don’t realise the sheer volume of water required to produce everyday items like T-shirts or microchips. The numbers are staggering,” says Chetan.
Raising awareness is a crucial step towards long-term sustainability. Communities, businesses, and policymakers must work together to ensure water security remains a top priority. As Chetan emphasises, “We cannot afford to ignore this any longer. Water is not just a resource—it’s the foundation of life, and its security determines the future of our society.”
Water security is a shared responsibility that requires immediate action. While the conversation is gaining traction, it must translate into meaningful investments, policy changes and enforcement, and on-the-ground solutions. Governments, enterprises, and communities must unite to protect this invaluable resource before the crisis escalates further.
The time to act is now.
Listen to the episode
Links
Website: Xylem Africa
Transcript
Kami 00:00:04 – 00:00:42
You’ve just tuned into InnoStation, where the latest and hottest topics are always on air. I’m your host, Kami, and each episode we’ll be serving up some heat with fun chats, fire insights and special guest appearances with a couple of surprises along the way. Now, water security is a hot topic right now, not just in South Africa, but globally, especially in light of the crisis that we currently find ourselves in. We’ve invited Chetan Mistry, who is the strategy and marketing manager at Xylem Africa, to give us some insight into the state of water in South Africa and what interventions could possibly help us to turn the tide. Welcome to InnoStation, Chetan.
Chetan Mistry 00:00:42 – 00:00:46
Thank you so much, Kami. Happy to be here.
Kami 00:00:46 – 00:00:57
Yeah. Now I think let’s start off by having everybody at home get to know you a little bit better, tell us who Chetan is and what fuels your inner fire?
Chetan Mistry 00:00:57 – 00:01:52
Thanks so much, Kami. So Chetan Mistry, I mean, he’s a guy from Johannesburg who’s had a bit of a colourful journey along the way. I have two streams of things along my life journey. The one stream was a lot of work through NGOs, so I’ve done a lot of community building and engaging with different people in different contexts, running festivals, doing food feeding schemes and so many different things like that. And on the career side, many other things that have happened. I’ve had a journey through many different kinds of careers, going from IT support to property management to design to marketing, work for different industries in it, distribution, IT itself, engineering, electrification, now engineering in the water sector. So quite a few different, diverse backgrounds that I can collate over the years.
Kami 00:01:52 – 00:01:55
So you’ve basically done everything.
Chetan Mistry 00:01:55 – 00:02:01
I wouldn’t say everything, Kami, but it’s nice to have quite a bit of variety in my life.
Kami 00:02:01 – 00:02:32
Yeah, no, it definitely is. Now World Water Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of March. I observed rather on the 22nd of March and looking just at news reports, community conversations and some of the headlines as well, the state of water, especially in South Africa, paints a very concerning picture. Now, what would you say from a global perspective, how do you think things are looking and also how are we then in South Africa standing in relation to the global situation right now?
Chetan Mistry 00:02:32 – 00:03:08
Yeah. So speaking globally, I mean, so many things have changed over the last five, six years now. I think leading into the pandemic, we’ve had lots of things like climate change and how it’s going to impact the world. We had the pandemic itself, which obviously caused so much disruption. So the world is looking at itself in a very different light. What wasn’t that important so a few years ago is now very important. So take that into context. I mean, one of the first things that I can tell you when I joined the water sector, I was actually exceptionally surprised at the water and how little we actually knew about water.
Chetan Mistry 00:03:08 – 00:03:54
I come from electrification and all the rave was about electrification because it all connected to things like people having lights on as well as your ICT connections, all these types of things. Yeah, but water, unlike your wi fi, is far more important than anything else. It’s really a lifeline. And I think for two way too many decades, other infrastructure, other developments have had far bigger priorities than water. But now more and more communities are beginning to realise that actually water really does need a top priority. Mainly because it’s one of those resources that is absolutely finite on this, on this planet. And it’s the resource that really nobody can do without. We cannot live, we cannot produce, we cannot develop as nations, etc.
Chetan Mistry 00:03:54 – 00:04:28
So it’s really elevated the conversation from that perspective and that’s the good thing that’s there. Whether it’s really getting enough of the investments and drive that is needed, that could be debated. But at least from an elevation of topic, it’s at least moving in the right direction. Key symptoms of this you can look at in the SDG 6. You will see that a lot of the development goals actually underpinned with water. You look at things like inequality as an example. You never say water is an element that underpins something like inequality. But you look at many, many distressed communities who don’t have access to water.
Chetan Mistry 00:04:28 – 00:05:04
It’s the divide around different communities who actually are able to sustain themselves better. You’re looking at richer nations versus poorer nations and how they can manage themselves. Even within microscopic communities, you see who the ones that are softermost. Many rural communities as an example in Africa, it’s the ladies who then have to be under distress because they have to walk long distances to go and collect water and things like that. So it’s important to understand these dynamics that are there. And it’s important to see that at least water is being elevated to the levels that it needs to. And that’s the first sign that we can make sure that we can get to a water secure planet.
Kami 00:05:04 – 00:05:40
Yeah, and just speaking on the topic of access to water in a lot of communities like you’re mentioning, it is reaching crisis levels and depending on who you’re speaking to, they might even refer to it as a humanitarian emergency. Now, this isn’t a challenge that we can tackle in isolation. You have mentioned in previous conversations that we’ve had that this will take collaboration between community enterprises and governments. What do you think we need to see at these different levels to ensure what’s a conversation and accessibility for conservation?
Chetan Mistry 00:05:40 – 00:06:13
Yeah, it’s a tough one because you have these three forces, and I’m absolutely behind this notion that we need this triangle of impact with the people themselves, enterprise and government really working together. One of the key elements is to put aside, you know, some of the personal gains that are there as those three components and really look towards the holistic benefit of the community at large to make sure that this is progressing. A little bit of selfishness will avoid this progress to be as accelerated as it needs to be.
Kami 00:06:13 – 00:06:14
Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:06:14 – 00:06:39
As it stands, I think we’re a little bit behind on where we need to be to make sure that we work as a secure community. So what this means is that, you know, each of the role players in this kind of context has a role to play, and it’s important that they all understand that role and they abide by the role. It ensures that there’s a little bit of an ecosystem between these three parties. You know, none of them really work in isolation. So it’s important that the rules of engagement are absolutely clear between them.
Kami 00:06:39 – 00:07:04
And I think that is what it’s going to take. Right. A little bit more of, like, for the community versus for us and focusing on, like, individual needs. So that’s very true. I agree with you there. And just touching on the issue of rain, I mean, we’ve had a lot of rain in Johannesburg in particular, over the last few weeks. But I think rain sometimes is cause for celebration. But then in some parts of the country, it really isn’t.
Kami 00:07:04 – 00:07:28
Like in some parts of KZN, for instance, where there’s a lot of flooding, there’s a lot of damage, I think rain can bring out, like, a little bit of anxiety. Can you paint a picture of the impact rain has, both from a natural perspective in terms of flooding and damage and in urbanised areas where we have things like failing infrastructure and the excess of, like, concrete creating additional challenges?
Chetan Mistry 00:07:28 – 00:07:47
Yeah. So water on the whole, I mean, there’s two paradigms that we end up having. What is one of those things that is the best is a balanced approach to having water. Too much water, too little water is never good. And obviously we experience a case where now there’s just too much water too quickly, particularly. And this is what we’re seeing as far as the strain that’s been put in.
Chetan Mistry 00:07:47 – 00:08:28
So if they sustained rains as an example, that’s good, we could still manage it because, you know, you can, it’s a little bit more measured in its approach. So you can then kind of handle it. When you get rain coming in so quickly like this, then it puts an exceptional level of strain on everything around us, particularly looking at the infrastructure that’s there to handle this. In countries like ours. In South Africa, most of our cities have never had to have weather patterns as we’re experiencing today. So the designs of our water systems haven’t been designed to handle such strenuous kinds of circumstances. Add to that the neglect of our infrastructure just puts it in a precarious situation that already a brittle system has now an additional strength.
Chetan Mistry 00:08:28 – 00:08:50
You can imagine that it’s a point of failure at stem. So it’s critical that communities. One of the big drivers that will be there for future generations is to be able to be resilient to these types of changes. This climate change that we experience. We’re going to see drastic changes in climate in the next few decades. That’s the prediction. And it’s going to swing. It’s the extremes that are going to be there.
Chetan Mistry 00:08:50 – 00:10:31
So our water systems now have to be adaptable to these types of systems. And the more resilient our communities are to these changes, the better it is to be able to handle it. This means that communities have to now drive a lot more intelligence systems, be able to start seeing more of the patterns that are taking place. And this is not only just the weather patterns that are there, but also community patterns. As an example, urbanisation. We’ve seen Gauteng, massive water issues as an example. And part of the drive behind this is the huge strain on infrastructure because of the influx of people, the urbanisation that’s taking place. So you’ve got climate change on the one side, you’ve got urbanisation on the other side. So you’ve got so many forces that are playing an impact on the infrastructure that’s there. And this means the focus on the infrastructure just needs to be elevated before we enter a place where, you know, the availability of water, access to water has become so strained that it starts having a negative impact on the community itself. Things like the economy is under stress because of these restrictions, etc. And we’ve got examples of this in South Africa, we’ve had electricity issues, We’ve seen the impact in the economy, economy when we had issues with rain we saw the impact when we’re seeing the impact on the economy and the next thing is water, we’ve seen this impact of what impact it’s going to have and water is really intrinsic to everything whether it’s from a consuming perspective or whether it’s from a production perspective. If you google how much water it takes to produce one T-shirt as an example or one microchip, it’s actually mind boggling how much of resources go into any of these types of things. So we need to be cognizant of this and awareness is so key so that we all can then play that part on it.
Kami 00:10:31 – 00:11:06
Yeah. And just staying within a Gauteng context, we saw that the Gautrain was in the news recently because there was an incident where there was illegal borehole drilling over one of the Gautrain lines and this resulted in major disruptions, there were service delays and this was. This ran on for like several days now. What is your take on this? Are we seeing a sense of desperation sort of lead people into seeking out unregulated or like illegal means to sort of give themselves access to water?
Chetan Mistry 00:11:06 – 00:11:36
Yeah, certainly. You know the human, the human race is a survivor. They’ll do anything to make sure that they are sustained. So that’s exactly what’s ending up happening. We saw again I love using the correlation between electrification and water because it’s so close to us. We just come out of so much load shedding etc and we’ve seen how people have responded to certain things immediately when we had load shedding and its frequency immediately. You know, people putting up solar panels and putting in batteries etc.
Chetan Mistry 00:11:36 – 00:12:30
Etc. Without the long term view of the ramifications behind any of this. We now see things like oh, are these insured? Are they, you know, up to standard as far as fire hazard perspective, have you got insurance from these types of things? All these knock on considerations are coming out post a lot of the work that has been done. So I think for the water sector we need to learn from this a little bit and say how we can be more proactive in these kinds of environments. So this example that you’ve given is a classic one where we actually have rules and to govern these types of engagements. You meant to have a license to put in a borehole and we’re meant to be advising so that there is a chat that it doesn’t have an impact on land as an example because a lot of land in South Africa is dolomite as an example. What happens if these boreholes collapse, yes. You know, there’s also an element of boreholes taking water from an aquifer.
Chetan Mistry 00:12:30 – 00:13:30
That aquifer is also limited in its resources. Are we, are we recharging those aquifers? If there’s, you know, a community of 200 homes all drawing borehole water from this aquifer as opposed to municipal water, what is that impact? What is the impact if we have informal settlements which we’re seeing springing up everywhere at the moment, and there’s no sanitation and that water is now going into the, into, into the aquifers and causing contaminated water tables? All this has, has an impact and all this is governed by regulations and policies that we have. So for us, again, this is why it’s important that we do abide by these. As strenuous as it might be, we abide by these so that there is some harmony in whatever we’re doing. So this example is because nobody kind of checked whether there’s any infrastructure damage if you have to drop in this borehole. And we’ve seen the impact. It wasn’t a direct water related impact. Now it has become a mobility impact that’s there for people who are dependent on the culture.
Chetan Mistry 00:13:30 – 00:14:14
So, this is why I say that, you know, all these three components are important to play a role in water. The government came up with strong policies in South Africa. We have some good policies that are in place. And again, it’s a question of enforcement. At the same time, you know, if enforcement isn’t there, human nature loves getting away with certain things. You know, if we know there’s no cops on a certain road, many people would end up speeding that type of thinking that is there. Let’s not have that mentality meaning understanding that there might be an impact for others that might be there. It’s a bit more of a selfless type of mentality we need to drive, but more of a human kind of flavor that we need to end up having with these kinds of contexts that’s there and important that all three players then start holding each other accountable.
Chetan Mistry 00:14:14 – 00:15:05
In this case, you know, because somebody has flaunted regulations, are people being called out on it and are people held accountable to this? Is the government held accountable for enforcing the policy? Is the person held accountable for not actually holding up the policies? You know, those types of things. And this is for all spheres. You look at things like, you know, different industries. We’re seeing continuous reports now about industries pumping affluent water that is not on regulation into water streams and this impacts people down the road. You know, it was one of the saddest things to hear in KZN a couple of years ago. That lady was desperate for water and she’s drinking water and she knows that she’s downstream from industry, but that’s the only source of water that she has. So she knows it’s contaminated and she’s drinking it. She knows it’s going to be harmful for people.
Chetan Mistry 00:15:05 – 00:15:05
Can we as human society sit here and let that be? It can’t. And we need to all play that role. So it’s important that we are coordinating what we’re doing.
Kami 00:15:14 – 00:15:37
Yeah. And I think at a community level, are there like any alternatives to like boreholes that people could possibly tap into that aren’t necessarily as like large scale as borehole drilling, but could help even in instances of like the story that you just shared where you know there is contaminated water all around and it’s the only source available. So what, what alternatives could we look into?
Chetan Mistry 00:15:37 – 00:16:14
I don’t see it as an alternative. I see it as water as a strategy. We need to kind of make sure that we have a strategic approach to understanding water and how we manage. And different, different solutions will be there for different environments. It’s not a one size fits all type of approach. So you know, urban environments will be very different to rural environments and things like that. And each one of those based on the context, how far they are to the nearest water resource or how close they are to urbanisation, all these types of things will be there. If you’re in an urban context, what kind of strategies can you put into place? And there’s so many things, small and big that we can drive to ensure that we, that we lead to those.
Chetan Mistry 00:16:14 – 00:16:14
And there are some grassroots of these. It’s important that they’re accelerated. You know, things like having buildings that are self-sustaining, having a zero water approach, meaning that you know, that there’s, we account for every single drop of water and reuse as much water as possible within its own ecosystem. And that, you know, helps with things like less effluent going out into and water treatment plants. And we have a more of a decentralised approach to a lot of the water that we have. We need to let go of our guard in being okay with drinking reused water. I mean there’s a stigma attached to these types of things, but it has to come. We need to be able to know what we can and what we can’t do.
Chetan Mistry 00:16:59 – 00:17:49
We need to make sure that we catch every drop. You know, something simple as a rain harvesting system in every home, as we have solar panels in many homes nowadays. And how can we capture the water? We have to understand that we can separate our water into gray water and black water as an example, which is sewer versus, you know, gray water, which isn’t too contaminated. And it can be used in other places like guarding the water, I mean, the water in the gardens or something of that sort. So it’s, important that we have the strategy and there’s so many tools and simple things and big things that everybody can do to do this. It can be done as a, from an individual’s level to enterprise level to governmental level. And if you all can play a role to try and drive what we can to ensure that we have a sustainable community, that would be great.
Kami 00:17:49 – 00:18:33
Yeah, and I think we see, we saw a lot of this back when a lot of the cities were reaching day zero. There was a lot of sort of education around what you can do, how you can reuse certain types of water. And, and, and so I think, yeah, strategy is important because then if we only implement these strategies when we are close to day zero or it is a crisis, then it doesn’t really help because the rest of the time then everybody’s just sort of winging it and that’s how we end up with the issues anyway. So a strategic approach. Yeah, absolutely. And are there any key thoughts and actions that you would like to leave us with just in terms of our mindset and responsibility towards sustainable water use, especially within the context of World Water Day?
Chetan Mistry 00:18:33 – 00:19:19
Yeah, so I think, you know, as you kind of indicated through difficult times, the day zero kind of environment in Cape Town, your consciousness gets elevated. So let’s continue that. Let’s not let a disaster, so to speak, drive our consciousness to that pain. As a guru, I was listening to people reading articles about water. Let’s have the mindset and be conscious of water and the impact of water that’s around us. Yeah, I think, you know, again, if I use electricity as an example, it’s only after people started putting in solar panels do they realise how many kilowatts of energy that they’re using in the same frame of mind. Let’s start doing the same from a water perspective. Let’s put in additional meters and smart meters, etc. To make sure that we can start accounting for what water we have.
Chetan Mistry 00:19:19 – 00:20:31
Can businesses be able to understand where different parts of their businesses, meaning from a portable perspective, from a production perspective, from a wastage perspective, how much is actually being used so they can put in again, smart bulk meters, etc. They can put in digital systems to try and see how they can, they can measure their water consumption. Can they look at, you know, making sure that every single building is now policy to have rainwater harvesting as a bare minimum, as an approach. It really doesn’t cost that much to think that way for new buildings. If I’m not mistaken, I think in Cape Town one of the drivers was for new buildings to come up and to avoid the strain on the sewer system, it was a must to include water reticulation, reuse the type of design into the buildings. Can we not have the policy for every single building now so that, you know, it’s actually driven? Can we not ensure that governments who are overseeing big industries, that they are responsible for the work that they’re doing? Are they not discharging water that could be harmful for other people around them? These types of things are a coordinated effort that’s there. And there are so many technologies available, there are so many shifts in behavior that we can all adopt. There are so many tools that we can use.
Chetan Mistry 00:20:31 – 00:20:59
So let’s look for these and find these so that we can make that impact. And I think anything small or big will have a lasting impact on our community because water has that nature behind it. If you protect that resource, it will be protected for generations if we have the mentality and we have a sustainable mindset behind it. So that’s the mentality we’ve got to take forward and hopefully that will make sure we shift away from a distressed scenario to a very secure scenario.
Kami 00:20:59 – 00:21:40
Those are really great insights, Chetan. And I think this is such an important conversation, especially now within the context of what’s been happening. And yeah, I genuinely hope that we can keep on having the conversation and that this episode even will trigger conversational conversations like this. Because I think it does take education as well, I think it is a great place to start. Just like learning what all is out there and what you could possibly do at a small scale and then we can gradually just sort of build it out into other sectors and other areas of our lives. And hopefully there’s cross pollination and there’s collaboration between the states and communities and also enterprises as well.
Chetan Mistry 00:21:40 – 00:22:20
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think there are definitely green shoots there. I mean if we do a lot of CSR work as general personally as well as from a corporate perspective and if you go into school today, the level of knowledge as far as water, its importance and what’s affecting our water has elevated tremendously from when I was in primary school as an example. That’s a great start and we need to accelerate that. We need to accelerate that. People want to be involved and join the water sector professionally as an example because of the meaningful impact. In fact, that’s one of my journeys. I did not expect how meaningful my work would be joining the water sector in this way.
Chetan Mistry 00:22:20 – 00:23:17
I thought it was just a career development move, but it’s actually added meaning to what I’m doing because it has not only an impact from a commercial perspective but really on people’s day to day lives. And that is so amazing that we can shift that. And it’s good to be able to walk in front of a community that has never had clean water or they walk 20 or 30 kilometers to get some water and now they can, at a reach of a tap, they can open a tap and clean water comes out and they can drink this. It’s amazing the impact it has on the community. That allows kids to go to school, it allows people to spend less time going and trying to access water and they can focus on things like economic development or whatever it may be. And it just shows that just one of these things, what does it enable? It enables so many things where communities are brought together. There’s elevation of, of progress, there’s productivity and all these types of things. So it’s so beneficial and it’s a springboard enabler and so many things around it.
Kami 00:23:17 – 00:23:50
Yeah. And I think it’s been the same for me just like with, I mean water isn’t necessarily like yeah, we know the basics of like, you know, try your best to like not waste water etc. But I think engaging with like xylem and your content as well, it really has shifted my perspective with water too. Right. Like me, I genuinely take it seriously. I’m like, yeah, I get upset when I see a random tap running outside. I immediately called the caretaker, why is there a tap running? You know, you become so conscious of how important it actually genuinely is.
Kami 00:23:50 – 00:23:53
So yeah, I think I will consider joining the water industry.
Chetan Mistry 00:23:53 – 00:24:32
Guys, it’s totally okay. It’s probably better to fix a tap before Kami sees it, actually fix that. So now he’s going to proactively fix it and next, before we know it, it’s part of his DNA now that he will make sure these things happen. And that’s exactly. Behaviour becomes second nature then and that becomes the norm, then that will be really beneficial to all of us. I mean this is especially key when we hear things like in South Africa we have one of the highest usage, the highest usage of water per capita from an average perspective I think be about 60 or 70 liters above the global average. And that’s massive.
Chetan Mistry 00:24:32 – 00:24:36
Which means that we do not respect those, the water that we have, you know.
Kami 00:24:36 – 00:25:04
Yeah, I think we definitely do take it for granted. Just, I mean you mentioned like how things have changed even at a school level and from when I was in school, literally things have changed because my siblings right now will say no, we don’t have like the spring day thing where everybody splashes each other with water and, and, but back then I was in, in like primary school and like early high school. That was a thing like we genuinely went to school looking forward to playing with water.
Chetan Mistry 00:25:04 – 00:25:05
That’s amazing.
Kami 00:25:05 – 00:25:21
Great to hear that things change. But before I let you go, I would love to play a round of hot takes with you. I’m going to ask you a series of rapid fire questions and then you just answer hot or not? Depending on how you feel about the topic.
Chetan Mistry 00:25:21 – 00:25:22
Hot or not?
Kami 00:25:22 – 00:25:23
Yeah, like hot or not. Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:25:23 – 00:25:25
Oh, hot or not. Okay.
Kami 00:25:25 – 00:25:33
Yes. Cool. How do you feel about Padel? Do you play Padel?
Chetan Mistry 00:25:33 – 00:25:36
Every now and again. It’s not my favorite sport, but every now and again.
Kami 00:25:36 – 00:25:40
Okay. How do you feel about servant leadership?
Chetan Mistry 00:25:40 – 00:25:44
Hot. If it’s very hot. You can put that in as well.
Kami 00:25:44 – 00:25:51
I’ll put in a very hot one just for you. How do you feel about Minecraft?
Chetan Mistry 00:25:51 – 00:25:54
Not, it’s hot for my son.
Kami 00:25:54 – 00:26:04
Yeah. But it’s a not for you. How do you feel about taking a run in the rain? But have you done that before?
Chetan Mistry 00:26:04 – 00:26:05
Absolutely.
Kami 00:26:05 – 00:26:07
Oh my goodness.
Chetan Mistry 00:26:07 – 00:26:18
It’s not just running. I mean I play soccer on a casual basis and socially it’s the best thing, especially on a hot day. You’ve had a hot day and you come, you don’t know whether it’s going to rain or not.
Kami 00:26:18 – 00:26:19
Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:26:19 – 00:26:27
Especially with today’s weather patterns and then you’re about to hit the field and you know the clouds open but you decide to play any race. It’s one of the best experiences.
Kami 00:26:27 – 00:26:33
I imagine it would be fun but like I’m always worried about a cold. I’m like, I’m gonna catch a cold.
Chetan Mistry 00:26:33 – 00:26:37
It might be worth it, baby.
Kami 00:26:37 – 00:26:40
How do you feel about watching soccer live like at the stadium?
Chetan Mistry 00:26:40 – 00:26:42
Very hot.
Kami 00:26:42 – 00:26:48
How do you feel about living off the grid for a month? Really?
Chetan Mistry 00:26:48 – 00:27:20
Yes. I think I’d be a little scared to be honest, because we’re so used to so many things around us. But you know, the reality is that we’ve really forgotten what’s out there. And I have a very stark example of this. We were traveling with a group of friends. We went to a very rural community in the middle of the school. I’m pretty much rice paddies and that type of thing all around. There’s one structure, a three story building right in the middle for kilometers, more or less.
Kami 00:27:20 – 00:27:21
Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:27:21 – 00:27:45
And we stayed over. I mean it was hard because, it was very rudimentary, sanitary, very rudimentary rooms, you know, big cockroaches. You run rural environments, you know, you don’t know what a cockroach looks like. But the most amazing experience was at night. We decided to go on top of the roof on the three story building. So the only lights were there from the main building on the ground floor. So everything above that was pretty much pitch black.
Chetan Mistry 00:27:45 – 00:28:04
And we looked up and saw the stars on this clear night and it was absolutely clear. It was phenomenal to be able to see this and to kind of make the whole scene even better was to see a whole field full of fireflies. And that scene was just amazing. And the fact that we’ve become so urbanised.
Kami 00:28:04 – 00:28:05
Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:28:05 – 00:28:39
Has made us realise that, you know, we are in a very false kind of world and we’re forgetting to see all the good things just right next to us. So being off the grid for a month or something of that sort will just elevate and have an opportunity to, to reconnect with nature. Our forefathers, I believed, were so harmonious with nature and they didn’t have issues like that. We have it because they were in harmony with nature and they lived in with that kind of correlation. They respected nature and nature respected them, so to speak. Now I get the sense that because we disrespect nature, nature is disrespecting us.
Kami 00:28:39 – 00:28:39
Yeah.
Chetan Mistry 00:28:39 – 00:28:39
Climate change is because we have used all the facilities that’ve been given to us and this stuff. So that’s my notion.
Kami 00:28:46 – 00:29:09
No, that is very true and I totally agree with you. I think you treat the planet well and it treats you while back. And my, my little thing on that is like you treat mother Nature bad and she turns on you and that’s not pretty. How do you feel about anonymous donations?
Chetan Mistry 00:29:09 – 00:29:12
Me giving the donation or people.
Kami 00:29:12 – 00:29:17
So just in general like people making anonymous donations, you are making anonymous donations.
Chetan Mistry 00:29:17 – 00:29:33
So maybe back my thing up if I’m making an unassociate. That’s exactly how it should be. It shouldn’t be about me as the individual in the donation. I do get disappointed if I’m. Because I’ve worked in those kinds of environments and I’m receiving and I get a donation. Come in. You know, 10,000 rand as an example. And no name is anonymous.
Chetan Mistry 00:29:33 – 00:29:43
How do you, how do you reciprocate with that person? And that’s the, that’s my disappointment that you can’t reciprocate knowing that, you know, so many people would have benefited from, from that donation.
Kami 00:29:43 – 00:29:54
Yeah. I think it’s the gratitude that makes you feel like, oh, I would like to say thank you, but yeah. And how do you feel about organised charity runs?
Chetan Mistry 00:29:54 – 00:29:55
Organised charity runs?
Kami 00:29:55 – 00:30:03
Yeah. So like with things like the color run, where people sort of run and get colorful powders thrown on them for charity and stuff.
Chetan Mistry 00:30:03 – 00:30:23
Yeah. But I think these things, these types of things are good. You run for water, people get aware of it. You run for breast cancer, people are aware of these types of things. So it does have its place in society and it’s important that we have that. For me, it’s a multitude of touch points that we can have for a specific end game. And we need these things.
Chetan Mistry 00:30:23 – 00:30:30
We live in a society where we need to inspire people differently. And if running inspires people, then so be it. This is what we need.
Kami 00:30:30 – 00:30:37
Yeah. And I think right now, especially because run clubs are like a thing. So I think it would be cool to just run a club for charity.
Chetan Mistry 00:30:37 – 00:30:44
Yeah. Sometimes I’ve been in the crossfire of these runs and I wonder actually the percentage of people who are actually running. Sometimes I’m surprised at how many people there are.
Kami 00:30:44 – 00:30:54
Walking, but apparently now they’ve become like a dating thing. So people go there to meet people as well. Yeah, absolutely.
Chetan Mistry 00:30:54 – 00:30:59
You don’t know your neighbour, but you can at least go for a run and make friends.
Kami 00:30:59 – 00:31:07
Actually like you calling us out. How do you feel about early morning hikes?
Chetan Mistry 00:31:07 – 00:31:09
I love it. So very hot.
Kami 00:31:09 – 00:31:18
I think especially if the end like prize is a lovely sunrise scene. I feel like, yeah, I’d get up early for that.
Chetan Mistry 00:31:18 – 00:31:26
Totally. Too many things to actually look forward to in the early morning. I’m an early bird by nature, so the morning is good for me. So something like that’s great.
Kami 00:31:26 – 00:31:41
Must be nice. I’m a morning person but not annoying. But yeah, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for joining us today, Chetan, and for giving us those great insights on the state of water in South Africa and globally as well.
Chetan Mistry 00:31:41 – 00:31:41
Fantastic. Thank you, Kami. This was fun as well. Thanks for the chance to chat and share so many of my thoughts. And it’s so good to see young people like yourselves driving these kinds of topics.