In a twist that sounds more science fiction than environmental science, South Africa’s ground is rising. And it’s not divine intervention or tectonic drama—it’s water. Or more precisely, the dramatic lack of it.
New research has revealed that certain regions in South Africa are experiencing a phenomenon known as “land uplift.” The culprit? Over-extraction of groundwater. Yes, you read that right: pumping too much water out of the earth has caused parts of it to rise. In a country already struggling with climate stress, energy shortages, and political turbulence, the earth itself seems to be staging a subtle protest.
Scientists at the University of Cape Town, in collaboration with European satellite monitoring agencies, have been tracking minute shifts in ground elevation across drought-prone areas. What they discovered was startling: when groundwater levels plummet due to overuse and evaporation, the pressure that once weighed down the earth’s surface is reduced. With less weight holding it down, the land—like a sponge released from a heavy press—starts to rebound.
It’s a slow, imperceptible phenomenon—rising just millimeters a year—but it carries massive implications for agriculture, infrastructure, and long-term water planning.
The areas most affected include parts of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, regions that have battled recurrent droughts and depend heavily on underground aquifers. Over the years, as rainfall patterns have become increasingly erratic and surface water scarcer, farmers and municipalities have turned to groundwater as their savior. It has been pumped into homes, schools, hospitals, and vineyards with increasing desperation and decreasing oversight.
Now, the land is responding—and it’s telling a sobering story. “We’ve always focused on subsidence when water is pulled out of the ground,” said Dr. Anelisa Radebe, a geohydrologist based in Stellenbosch. “But what we’re seeing here is rebound. The earth decompresses, and in that, it lifts.”
Unlike land subsidence, which has visible and often dangerous effects like sinkholes or cracked buildings, uplift is more insidious. It doesn’t cause immediate chaos, but over time, it can damage underground pipelines, affect the stability of roads and railways, and even distort sensitive infrastructure like dams and bridges. The data also challenges assumptions about long-term aquifer recovery. The land may rise, but that doesn’t mean the water table is.
In farming communities like Graaff-Reinet, where water tankers have become a way of life and boreholes run deeper every year, the news has raised eyebrows and concern. “If the land is moving,” says Willem van der Merwe, a sheep farmer, “what else is shifting that we don’t know about? Our livelihoods depend on stable ground—literally.”
South Africa’s water management institutions, however, are not known for swift action. The Department of Water and Sanitation has acknowledged the findings but insisted they require further study. Critics argue that the problem isn’t a lack of evidence, but a lack of political urgency.
“Water stress in South Africa is not new. But now, we’re being shown in high resolution what overuse looks like beneath our feet,” says Nomsa Mokoena, director of a Johannesburg-based water policy NGO. “And still, our water laws remain under-enforced, our metering systems are outdated, and illegal boreholes continue to thrive.”
There’s also a class dimension to the crisis. Wealthier landowners and municipalities with the means to dig deeper boreholes are exacerbating aquifer depletion, often at the expense of nearby communities. As the land uplifts quietly, so too does inequality in access to basic resources.
But it’s not all grim news. The research opens up new avenues for smarter water policy. By tracking vertical land motion via satellite, authorities can better predict where aquifers are under the most stress and regulate extraction more precisely. It could also help urban planners identify zones of structural risk before problems emerge.
What remains to be seen is whether South Africa has the political will to act. The country’s environmental institutions are already stretched thin by the climate crisis, energy transition challenges, and ongoing legal battles over land rights. Adding land uplift to the list may not be welcomed—but ignoring it would be worse.
In the meantime, the land keeps rising—quietly, steadily, and symbolically. It’s the earth’s way of reminding South Africans that natural systems, however invisible, are not infinite. You can only pump so much before the ground responds.
After all, when the planet itself starts shifting beneath your feet, maybe it’s time to rethink how you treat it.
