Water shapes the destiny of Southern Africa like a silent witness to its history. Spanning millennia in time and space, this book takes water as its lens, cutting through the myths of “water crisis” in Africa to restore the true narratives of rivers, lakes, and aquifers across the land. From the ingenious terraced irrigation of Iron Age Bantu communities to water channels encoded stones of Great Zimbabwe; from colonial powers redrawing maps with hydroelectric dams to the collective awakening during Cape Town’s “Day Zero” crisis — this book unveils Southern Africa’s forgotten memories of water and reconstructs a hidden chronicle of water and power. Through five historical movements—sharing, controlling, discovering, constructing, and re-sharing—it reveals how water has driven migrations of peoples, served as a bargaining chip in imperial competitions, and become a microcosm of modern challenges. Within these pages, you’ll find the cultural legacy of the Lozi people’s rainmaking rituals, the social upheaval brought by the Kariba Dam, the institutional injustices of apartheid-era water laws, and the international struggles embodied by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Every drop of water tells a story of Africa’s wounds and resilience.