Water woes and the power of prayer

Eutrophication and miracles were the by-words at the recent Lower South Coast Stonecroft meeting held at the Shelly Beach Methodist Church.

Since February this year South Africa’s news headlines were dominated by reports of an outbreak of cholera in three provinces – Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo. Cholera is an acute diarrheic infection caused by ingestion of contaminated water.

And with taps often running dry in the Ugu District Municipality the meeting attracted a good attendance as water scientist Professor Anthony Turton was the keynote speaker. His talk entitled ‘ The Truth About Our Water’ was enlightening and a little frightening as our country is experiencing serious water stress.

Professor Turton said while South Africa has always been a water constrained country, the government was to blame for the recent crisis. “We were once world leaders when it came to building dams and managing water storage. However, the lack of basic infrastructure maintenance and the absence of competent staff have led to dams drowning in sewage.”

He said eutrophication was a leading cause of the impairment of many freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems.

“We should be concerned about this process in which the water body becomes overly enriched with nutrients – mainly from human waste – which increases the amount of plant and algae growth.”
Prof Turton who lives on the South Coast has offered to assist the district municipality – his offer has not been acknowledged.

A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event not explicable by scientific laws and not a word one would associate with a man of law. Johann Bester, retired regional magistrate, currently a practising attorney and second speaker told Stonecroft guests about his relationship with God.

Despite having a Christian upbringing the magistrate ‘fell out’ with God as a teenager when his fervent healing prayers for his ill brother were not answered. “I wanted a miracle,” he said.

During his stint in the army he was sent to Katima Mulilo in Namibia to clear land mines. His platoon of conscripts witnessed the horror of a pick up being blown up as it drove over a mine. The distraught soldiers stopped to pray and that delay prevented the troop from walking into an ambush. It was a miracle.

“God equipped me with the ability to serve. As a young magistrate I was tasked with helping a Zululand community after 40 homesteads were razed. By getting people to help one another to rebuild, 600 people were rehoused in record time. It was miraculous.”

He said through a life-time of service he came to better understand God’s plans. “Evaluating evidence is difficult and magistrates hear terrible details. They need a way to de-stress – mine is heavy metal music. It is a miracle way to unwind. Miracles are around us in every facet of our daily lives.”

Chad van Niekerk and Hope Smit provided the musical entertainment.

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