IMIESA talks to Candice Moodley, executive: Corporate Services, the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA), in a Q&A interview about the strategic role that this organisation plays in transforming South Africa’s infrastructure landscape in this specialised field.

Can you explain what EWSETA’s mandate is?

CM EWSETA’s responsibility is to manage the skills development and training needs of the energy and water services sectors through strategic sector skills planning within the framework of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS III). Our new SETA mandate extends from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2018.

What are EWSETA’s specific objectives for the water sector?

Our mandate within the water sector is of critical strategic importance, given that South Africa, and Africa at large, is facing serious water and sanitation challenges. The Sustainable Development Goals have elevated water to the highest political agenda and put pressure on the sector to create a better, equal, sustainable, and secure water world.

The World Economic Forum identified water as the number one risk to businesses worldwide in 2015. 783 million people do not have access to clean and safe water, 37% of those live in Africa alone. In developing countries, 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.

These are more than statistics, these are realities. It means that our children have no option but to drop out of school to fetch fresh water, which can be miles away; it means that our food security is threatened; it means that people, especially young children, are dying of water-related diseases.

However, it also presents an opportunity. According to the World Health Organisation, for every US dollar invested on water and sanitation, there is an economic return of between $3 and $34. Imagine if the child who is currently forced to drop out of school could stay in school and become the engineer that fixes the challenges in his or her local community. Imagine if all that energy put into fetching water could be utilised for Africa’s development – what a different world we would live in.

The War on Leaks campaign is pivotal. Let’s expand on this topic.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has entered into a tripartite agreement with Rand Water as the implementing agent and EWSETA as the training authority. The aim is to train 15 000 artisans over the course of three years and to work with municipalities and communities to report and fix water leaks. Unemployed youth will be trained on basic plumbing skills that will enable them to assist the communities to identify and fix water leaks and conduct water conservation advocacy. It also encourages the development of small, medium-sized and micro enterprises.

The project has a three-phased implementation plan with 3 000 learners recruited and trained in the first year, 7 000 learners in Phase 2 and 5 000 in Phase 3. Currently, the first phase of 3 000 learners have all completed an entrepreneurship programme and are currently in training and being placed for their practical training component.

We are calling on employers, particularly municipalities, to play a key role in this project and open their workplaces to these learners. The mutual benefit that can be gained by both learner and municipality/employer is unquestionable, especially given the amount of water we lose on an annual basis through water leaks.

The second phase recruitment of 7 000 learners has been completed and all leaners are being inducted into the programme.

What are some of the other general training initiatives being led by EWSETA?

We are active participants in the Water Sector Leadership Group of the DWS, whose role is to be a strategic, non-statutory body established by the DWS to coordinate and monitor the implementation of Chapter 15 of the National Water Resource Strategy, which specifically deals with skills and capacity building in the sector.

A large part of the problem facing the delivery of water and sanitation is the scarcity of intermediate skills in the water sector. Although not unique to this sector, the water and sanitation sector in South Africa is one that is severely affected by a lack of skilled artisans. Through vibrant water learning projects, we are able to address this shortage.

EWSETA has provided funding to Stellenbosch University’s Water Institute to research and develop a ‘train the trainer’ qualification in water management. How close is this to being implemented?

Phase 1 of the research presented some worrying findings – out of a total of 485 colleges, only 16 have any water and wastewater treatment courses, and only 6 of those are public colleges, with only 4 public TVET colleges offering plant operations courses. It is evident that something drastic needs to be done to support and capacitate our public TVET colleges. It is, therefore, encouraging to note that the EWSETA Accounting Authority has approved the second phase of this project, which will see TVET colleges being strengthened through curriculum development.

How have your partnerships assisted in delivering on your mandate?

EWSETA’s success in achieving our milestones has been a result of our ability to form strategic partnerships with stakeholders within the sector and across all spheres, and this has been led with determination and resilience by our CEO, Errol Gradwell.

Our partnership with the DWS in the War on Leaks Project, the Department of Trade and Industry in the Saldanha Bay IDZ project, the Department of Labour through a UIF project, and the departments of Energy and Human Settlements all demonstrate a national level of confidence in EWSETA to implement training on behalf of the sector. Our partnerships span all tiers of government – from municipalites to provincial governments and beyond.