Social Constructions of Water Quality in South Africa (PDF)

Suvania Naidoo was born in Durban, South Africa. She is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of South Africa. She graduated with her doctoral degree on 22 October 2021 from the University of Johannesburg. She began researching acid mine drainage and its socio-economic impact since 2011. She presented her research on Acid Mine Drainage at four international conferences: Hiroshima, Japan; Split, Croatia; London, UK and Milan, Italy. She first published with Springer in 2015, an article entitled "An assessment of the impacts of acid mine drainage on socio-economic development in the Witwatersrand: South Africa". In 2017, she launched her first book entitled "Acid mine drainage in South Africa: Development actors, policy implications and broader impacts". The book featured in Mining Weekly Magazine. In 2019, the book won her the Principal's Prize for Excellence in Research at the University of South Africa; awarded to candidates under the age of 35 years, whose research is internationally recognised and has made a significant impact in society. She was invited to speak at Sustainability Week 2017, an internationally recognised event to present the findings of her first book, among experts in the field. In 2019, she was invited to speak at the Water Show Africa and served as an Advisory Board Member in 2020. At this event she spoke on some of the findings of the research conducted for this book where she co-presented a workshop with officials from the national government Department of Water and Sanitation and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority; those responsible for implementing acid mine drainage treatment in Gauteng, South Africa. She has been quoted in the South African media on the findings of this research.