Some of you may read the title of this post and immediately think to yourself, ‘That’s it. The California Democrats have gone too far now!‘ And given many of the recent headlines we’ve seen, you could be forgiven for that assumption. But this story isn’t taking place in California or even Washington. It’s unfolding in South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Minister of Water has established new quotas for water usage. As our colleague Leah Barkoukis at Townhall reports, the new system will cut off water to farmers and other consumers who do not allocate a sufficient percentage of the water they draw to people with “the right skin color.” And racial quotas are showing up in other areas of governance as well.

South Africa’s opposition party is blasting the ruling African National Congress over draft regulations that would introduce race quotas for water use licenses for businesses.

The proposed regulations (see page 91-92), which were published by Minister of Water Senzo Mchunu on May 19, would prove devastating to business sectors like agriculture and forestry, which reportedly account for about 60 percent of the country’s total water use.

Under these new regulations, farmers and companies that draw fresh water would have to submit distribution plans to the government. Depending on the size of the operation and the amount of water they draw, they would have to demonstrate that they will allocate somewhere from 25 to 75 percent of that water to “blacks” (as described in the regulations). A failure to do so could remove their access to the water source, leaving the farmers’ crops and livestock to wither and die.

South Africa, like many other nations, is facing a serious shortage of fresh water. That’s why they need a “Water Minister.” But it’s a complex situation with a lot of politics involved. The current ruling party is facing serious potential losses in upcoming elections and this move appears to be designed to prop up support among certain groups.

So why is this story from the other side of the world important in the West? Obviously, we don’t want to see anyone suffering under a drought and fresh water will be a much bigger crisis in North America sooner or later. But it’s the politics underlying the report that should be of particular interest.

As I suggested at the top, there is an eerie parallel between what’s going on inside the ruling African National Congress and the Democratic Party in the United States. Of course, there are some minor differences in the underlying reasons. The Democrats want reparations or revenge for slavery and what they consider systemic racism. The ANC is seeking to punish people for the Apartheid era, which was indeed horrible.

But the end result winds up being the same. As opposition party leader Cyril Ramaphosa is quoted as saying, the ANC is “reintroducing racial discrimination across all sectors of society” and they are doing so in order to “divide and rule.” Is any of this sounding familiar yet? We’ve seen the Democrats all across America trying to impose limits on public benefits based on race. The courts have (thankfully) shot most of those efforts down thus far, but they’re definitely making the effort. And in the broader sense, the messaging of the DNC is fully in synch with the ANC. ‘America is a terrible, racist place and you all have to band together behind us to take the fight to the white man.’

And if you’re not careful and vigilant, they just might get away with it.