One thing the South African power crisis that disrupted our lives at the beginning of this year taught us was that nothing should be taken for granted – particularly the “basic” things like electricity.

In the past few months “load shedding” has become one of South Africa’s most commonly used phrases. Last year this time, many people didn’t even know what it meant.

If you have been living in a cave, then you would be forgiven for not knowing that load shedding has been Eskom, South Africa’s power utility’s, euphemism for the rolling blackouts that have plagued the country the last few years.

At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held here in South Africa, Nelson Mandela famously said “No Water, No Future”.

He was referring to the fact that this precious resource is undeniably getting scarcer in many regions around the world, and particularly in Africa and here in South Africa. It is up to all citizens and industry to help in this regard, but the tourism industry should be more resourceful when it comes to consumption of water and how much it provides to tourists.