As South Africa continues to hobble along, struggling for sustainable and reliable water resources, water expert Anthony Turton has analysed the national crisis, and said that the country’s drought may only end in 2025.
In light of Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s report on delivery and infrastructure last week, he highlighted the crisis that the Department of Water and Sanitation has found itself in, following its billions of rand in irregular and fruitless expenditure. Makwetu’s report noted a collapse in infrastructure management and major skills failures at the department. Industry experts, such as Turton, said that this breakdown in management that has occurred over the was a result of political considerations that influenced the awarding of tenders, the use of unqualified but politically connected contractors and the use of unskilled workers. “The consequence is that we are going to be water constrained by 2025 due to political considerations,” Turton said. It also recently came to light that the last skills audit at the department was 15 years ago.
Losing skilled employees
Makwetu found that employees at the department who wanted to qualify as engineers were leaving because they failed to meet the requirements to register with the Engineering Council of South Africa. Makwetu’s findings revealed that the use of unskilled employees resulted in injuries within the department. “An analysis of the age of staff employed as scientists and engineers with high-level skills at the department showed 86 would reach the retirement age of 65 within 10 years,” Makwetu said. He also noted that the department had no plan to replenish the number of highly skilled workers that it had lost. The department resorted to hiring Cuban engineers, who could not communicate with local employees, to fill some of the vacant positions at the National Water Resources Infrastructure branch, where it had up to eight vacant positions.
Makwetu’s report also mentioned the lack of registered engineering professionals available to help train and evaluate engineering candidates in line with industry requirements.
SA still battles with water shortages
Nomvula Mokonyane, minister at the Department of Water and Sanitation recently announced an investigation into several water projects, as three companies were accused of benefiting irregularly from R502 million in tenders since the Auditor-General’s report on the department’s irregular expenditure. One case in particular was the tender awarded for the improvement of the water supply in Limpopo’s Mopani district municipality. This tender was one of the leading causes of the department’s ballooned expenditure, however the area continues to experience water shortages.
Makwetu still has other water concerns
The report highlighted poorly performing contractors that led to the extension of contract periods and increased costs, the late payments of contractors, poor project planning and the application for water-use and sludge-disposal licences. Makwetu also voiced his concerns about the lack of capacity in district municipalities to operate and maintain water infrastructure. His office looked at water projects in seven district municipalities in six provinces. Makwetu said that the projects had good intentions and were thought through, but it was clear that finer planning and execution was lacking. One of the key negative impacts on water infrastructure was a lack of agreements governing cooperation, operational aspects or maintenance, which in turn affected service delivery. Makwetu added that municipalities received too little money for operational management and maintenance.
Where to from here for SA’s drought?
While “normal to above normal” rainfall is expected this summer, record high temperatures will not guarantee an end to the drought as the weather system remains unpredictable, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research said. The water department has continued its request to households to save water, while some municipalities maintain water restrictions.
