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Even though drought and HIV/Aids is the priority concern nowadays in Swaziland, there is a silent killer that is industrial pollution, which is affecting thousands of residents who live in and around polluting industries. Water is usually contaminated by human activity such as industrial, agricultural, municipal and commercial, which is responsible for most of the problems of surface and groundwater degradation. It has been said that two-thirds of Swazis live below the poverty line and that about 40% of them do not have a have pit latrine at their homes, so too is a borehole to secure clean water. They depend on local streams for water. 

Water is essential to all life on Earth, yet it is treated as if it an expendable resource.  Freshwater resources are finite and exist in a closed system. Actually, only 1% of the world's water is usable to us. About 97% is salty sea water, and 2% is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. Thus only 1% of the world's water supply is a precious commodity necessary for our survival. About 2 billion people are dying for water globally. Therefore, an adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements. The fresh water deficits that are projected for the next century will have disastrous consequences in some regions, threatening food production, public health and national security. Therefore we need to protect this finite and precious resource for present and future generations. 

Some companies at the Matsapha Industrial Site, the premier business site and hub of industrial activity in Swaziland are known to discharge effluents directly into the Lusushwana River. This is a primary source of water for downstream residents and has become a major cause for concern. While, some companies are causing aquifer pollution by drilling super-deep boreholes not for purpose of extracting water, but for the purpose of dumping industrial waste into underground water supplies. The waste dissipates invisibly below ground, but then taints the aquifer and endangers the users of this water. This is environmental and social injustice. This practice shows that some companies do not uphold principles of environmental and social accountability.

Pulp and paper mills have been causing untold problems not only in Swaziland but also in countries such as South Africa, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Nepal. If little or no environmental controls are in place, pulp and paper mills can pollute water resources and air quality. The pulp and paper process generates large quantities of organic waste that deplete life-sustaining oxygen from rivers, and other waters that receive mill effluent. Numerous calls have been made and heard about the environmental disaster in the Lusushwana River. Do we need to take action only when someone has died from the blatant industrial pollution? 

The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002 reinvigorated nations’ commitment to provide access to safe and clean water. At the summit nations agreed to half the number of people who lack access to safe, clean water and sanitation by 2015. Further, the year 2003 is declared to be an international year of fresh water. It is the year to take practical action to protect and conserve our finite fresh water reserves. The summit is gone and past and 2003 is coming to an end. We need to be asking ourselves whether we are moving towards achieving this target. Our target year 2015 seems to be far. But remember we are confronted by serious epidemics such as HIV/Aids, hunger and poverty that continue to wreck havoc in the kingdom. 

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