OPINION
South Africa’s land is rising — by nearly 2mm a year — and it’s not because of magma.
By Aniket Chakraborty
May 29, 2025
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New research suggests water loss during droughts is lifting the earth’s crust.
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This “land uplift” is caused by reduced water pressure, making the ground rebound elastically.
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GNSS base stations tracked the vertical land rise across the country from 2000–2021.
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The Cape Town drought (2015–2018) was key to studying this silent transformation.
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Unlike land sinking due to aquifer collapse, this rise stems from mass depletion above.
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Satellite data confirms strong links between land motion and water storage shifts.
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Cape Town’s rich used over 2,000 litres of water daily, while the poor used only 41 litres.
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Experts warn that rising land is nature’s signal — not a win, but a warning.
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Without urgent water reform, Cape Town’s taps — and future — may run dry again.
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