Senzo Mchunu, Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), addressed delegates at the Biennial WISA Conference 2022. Going forward, he maintains that a larger focus must be placed on assisting municipalities with the delivery of water and sanitation services.

“DWS will no longer exclusively concentrate on bulk water and water resource management at the exclusion of water services management. We will strengthen our role in regulating, supporting and intervening in municipalities where water and sanitation services are deteriorating. We have realised that community protests and complaints around water services have occurred as a result of the DWS and water boards directing their sole attention on water resource management and leaving reticulation exclusively to municipalities. Some municipality’s capacity to supply water and sanitation to households has declined. The DWS will not abandon its focus on bulk water and water resource management, but seeks to balance its priorities with water services management,” he says.

Key priority projects

A lot of emphasis has been placed on key priority projects – at different stages of development – that will ensure water security not only at a national level but inclusive of provinces, metros and district municipalities.

“Many municipalities and the DWS have a poor record of under expenditure and delays on their capital projects. I have implemented corrective measures that include hands on monitoring of the progress of these projects as well as budget versus expenditure. We need to ensure that project planning takes place the year before it is implemented, ensuring that projects are ready when the financial year begins,” states Mchunu.

An Infrastructure Procurement Strategy has been developed by the DWS to line up with National Treasury’s framework for Infrastructure Delivery and Procurement Management to enable quicker, smarter and more effective infrastructure procurement.

There will also be a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption in the procurement and management of projects.  Corruption in water sector will be fought across all levels of government.

Key priority projects include:

• Limpopo Province
  • Giyani Project
  • Olifants Water Resource Management Module (OMM Programme)
  • Masodi Wastewater Treatment Works Project
  • Olifantspoort and Ebenezer Water Supply Schemes (O&E WSS)
• Western Cape Province
  • Raising of the dam in Clanwilliam
  • Greater Brandvlei Scheme – Holsloot Feeder Canal
• KwaZulu Natal Province
  • The Umkhomazi Water Project
  • Possible dams for upper and lower Tugela for local communities – Msinga, Nkandla, and Mandini Dam Projects
  • Possible dams on Umfolozi system to supply Ulundi and Nongoma and Mfolozi River Regional Water Supply Scheme
• Free State Province
  • Greater Mangaung Water Augmentation Project – Xhariep Pipeline Feasibility Study
  • Maluti-a-Phofung LM Interventions
• Gauteng Province
  • Lesotho Water Highlands Scheme Phase 2
  • Section 63 Vaal River Intervention Project
• Eastern Cape Province
  • Nooitgedagt Coega Low Level Scheme (NCLLS) Phase 3
  • Mzimvubu Water Project
  • Augmentation of the James Kleynhans Bulk Water Supply – Makhanda
• Mpumalanga
  • Thembisile/Loskop Regional Bulk Water Supply Project
• Northern Cape Province
  • Vaal Gamara Regional Water Supply Scheme

National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency (NWRIA)

In response to the country’s old and dysfunctional water infrastructure, the DWS has established the NWRIA that will own and manage, maintain and operate national water resource infrastructure as well as to be responsible for raising funding. Cabinet has approved the bill and it is currently in the consultation stage.

“The DWS looks forward to pushing the bill into law as this will be an important intervention. The public does not care about spheres of government and who is responsible for what, they just want water. Where there is no water, the DWS will have to intervene. Municipalities must continue to supply water, but if they cannot supply water, we must help them to supply that water,” adds Mchunu.

Legislation (Section 63 of the National Water Act and Section 139 of the Constitution) is being reviewed in terms of empowering the department to intervene when municipalities fail to deliver ware and sanitation services.

Financial health

The Water Trading Entity (WTE) at DWS is currently owed R23 billion and the debt is rising due to non-payment from municipalities and water boards, who owe WTE R8.5 billion and R7.6 billion respectively. Municipalities owe water boards over R14 billion.

Mchunu also highlighted the importance of improved billing and revenue collection across water chain. “This rising debt declines government’s credit ratings and borrowing capacity that results in inadequate investments in infrastructure. Weak revenue collection also results in inadequate funding for operations and maintenance that result in unreliable service that negatively impact water quality and quantity, health, and the environment.”

Water Services Improvement Programme

The DWS is also putting in place a Water Services Improvement Programme to strengthen its support and intervention at municipal level, making such measures more consistent than the current ad-hoc approach.

The programme consists of the four key elements:

1. In terms of the Water Services Act, DWS will issue updated and more comprehensive norms and standards for water and sanitation services.
2. A national regulatory dashboard will be created showing the extent of compliance with national norms and standards for all WSAs. This will use existing monitoring information like drop reports, national treasury reports and Cogta reports.
3. Regional support and intervention plans will be developed based on the evidence in the national regulatory dashboard in consultation with provincial government, municipalities and district development model structures.
4. Support and intervention plans will draw on a range of support programmes, which will be developed at national level and draw on the capacity of the DWS regional offices, water boards and private sector.

Water boards

In its efforts to improve service delivery, the DWS will reposition and reconfigure water boards, making them work more closely with municipalities, where they will assist in providing water and sanitation services.

“We are appealing to municipalities to not regard water boards as enemies or as opposition, but as partners. The DWS is looking to reduce the number of water boards, and have already disestablished the Sidebeng Water Board. We have also embarked on the reconfiguration and consolidation of Umgeni Water and Mhlathuze Water. Mhlathuze Water as a separate entity will be disestablished and the boundary of Umgeni Water will be extended to include Mhlathuze Water. The incorporation of Mhlathuze Water into Umgeni Water will result in the formation of a single water board in KwaZulu-Natal, enabling both water boards to merge their assets and skills for key infrastructure development, increase water supply, expand access to unserved areas and improve service delivery within the entire province,” states Mchunu.

Increase private sector participation

Mchunu calls for greater public and private partnership with a view to strengthen collaboration by formalising and institutionalising partnerships. “Alone, the public sector does not have the necessary skills, capacity and funding to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The DWS aims to create a conducive environment for the private sector to operate, thrive,  and grow the sector and create jobs.”

One such example is the Water Partnerships Office (WPO) – a ring fenced entity housed in the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). The WPO will develop standardised national standardised programmes for private sector participation in municipal water and sanitation services. “The idea is to make it easier, quicker and cheaper for municipalities to enter into partnerships, without having to ‘reinvent the wheel’ every time. Where appropriate, WPO will facilitate blended financing and support municipalities to undertake feasibility studies and financial structuring,” explains Mchunu.

NPO will work on five programmes:

Programme	Description
Non-revenue water	A comprehensive water conservation, water demand management and cost recovery programme focussing on reducing losses and over consumption and improving cost recovery. The private sector obtains a return on investment from savings through reducing losses or from increases in revenue.
Management contract	Programme in which the private sector overall management and support to a water and sanitation function in a municipality. The private sector obtains a return on investment from savings through efficiency improvements or from increased revenue.
Wastewater treatment	This will assist municipalities to upgrade and refurbish their wastewater treatment facilities. Funding and implementation will be done through a private sector participation model which leverages a portion of grant funding.
Water reuse	By focussing on further treatment of municipal wastewater to enable it to be sold for potable, industrial or agricultural use. Related resource recovery includes energy generation and sludge beneficiation. The private sector obtains return of investment from sale of reuse, electricity generation and sludge beneficiation.
Seawater desalination	Focus on independent water production by producing potable water by seawater desalination. Private sector obtains a return on investment through the sale of desalinated water to municipalities and other customers.

“When I joined the DWS in 2021, most of the leadership positions were ‘acting’. This is not Los Angeles. I have permanently appointed everybody, there is now a fully-fledged and fully functional DWS that is grappling with all the challenges and problems thrown its way. This year, the public and professionals within the water sector will clearly see the large strides the DWS is making in providing quality water and sanitation for all instead of me arguing that we are improving,” concludes Mchunu.