00:00Civil society groups have demanded a halt in the construction of new artificial intelligence centers in South Africa.
00:08The prospect of a water-and-power-hungry hyperscale data center near areas of the city
00:13where thousands of people lack proper access to these resources has alarmed activists.
00:19This comes at a time when some homes in South Africa still lack running water.
00:24People can wait up to two hours just to fill a 20-liter bucket of water.
00:29And if several taps are opened, where you are standing, no water might come out
00:36because there are other taps that are opened simultaneously.
00:39In a submission to the South African Human Rights Commission, they said the hyperscale data center facilities
00:46could consume more than 4.4 billion liters of water a year if the standard cooling method was used.
00:52You know, we're calling for a moratorium so that, you know, proper recognizance of what regulations we have can be
01:00done
01:00and then whether the legislation is lacking and that needs to be developed.
01:06And, you know, as a South African community, it's not just Cape Town, it's entire South Africa.
01:10We need to have proper understanding of what the law allows and regulation needs to happen
01:17before, you know, these industries can be allowed to be built.
01:23Meanwhile, the South African government is welcoming these data center investments
01:27to promote the country home to the fastest expansion on the continent as Africa's digital gateway.
01:35And with regards to the use of water in the facilities that we build and operate,
01:41we really use minimal water because we really, firstly, we use dry cooling mechanism
01:46that makes use of closed water loop systems.
01:50And what that means is there's no additional water that is being used on a daily basis.
01:54When we construct the data center, we fill up the water capacity once and we never have to fill it
02:00up again.
02:00Water supply is a fraught issue in South Africa, for instance, in Cape Town,
02:05which narrowly avoided a day zero water shutdown in 2018
02:09and could reportedly face restriction from December.
02:11It's the warning of a linear weather pattern takes hold.
