Thanks to unchecked pollution, inappropriate land and resource use, weak and poorly enforced policies and regulations, and poor protection of habitats and biodiversity.
The situation has become so bad that the river stopped flowing, for the first time ever in its history, five years ago and it has dried up for a few weeks every year since.
An NGO called AWARD (the Association for Water and Rural Development) has been given a grant to try to save the river by building resilience among the people who depend on it and also by working to get all stakeholders to co-operate to properly manage the resource.
All signs show that without intervention, the river will stop flowing permanently one day.
But life without the Olifants is not an option, the river and its contributing waterways are critical for supporting life as humans, animals and flora in the area.
The Olifants River is responsible for providing a suite of life sustaining resources in the region.
These are not only the basis for our regional economy, generating millions of rands and creating thousands of jobs but are also necessary for local livelihoods to flourish.
The river is a source of ecosystems services that we often take for granted not only is a source of fresh water it also carries away to the sea waste from our city sewage systems and industry.
It provides cheap protein in the form of fish, water for our animals and gardens and the vegetation of the river regulates floods when they come.
The loss of some of these gift from the Olifants has tragic consequences as some of these processes cannot be reversed.
Life in the Lowveld without the river would indeed be impossible.
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