A subsidiary of the uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) Group, Umgeni Water Services (UWS) was established in 1997 to hold UUW’s shareholding in the Durban Water Recycling company. It has also won the concession to manage and operate the reuse plant at the Ethekwini Southern Works plant in Durban.
UWS is now being used as the company that will drive UUW business growth strategy. Similar to the adapted Toyota Hilux for African customers, UUW has evolved over the years, integrating technological advancements and improvements over time. The Toyota Hilux was developed in Africa, for Africa. It passes the African test and can therefore perform anywhere in the world. UUW, like the Toyota Hilux, has a rich history in South Africa with a reputation for its quality and expertise. “Our skills in the water sector are home grown, we have an in-depth knowledge of what it takes to provide water on the African continent. UWS is a vehicle for UUW’s growth and will focus on driving the expansion of the Group through the secondary activities that are permitted through the Water Services Act,” says Peter Thompson, MD, UWS. Section 29 and Section 30 Section 29 of the Water Services Act defines a water board’s primary activities, which is to collect and store bulk water, transmit that water to purification plants and then sell that water to municipalities. Water boards, such as UUW, are also authorised to engage in secondary activities (Section 30). These may include:- management services, training and other support services to water services institutions, in order to promote co-operation in the provision of water services
- supplying untreated or non-potable water to end users who do not use the water for household purposes
- catchment management services to or on behalf of the responsible authorities
- supplying water directly for industrial use, accepting industrial effluent and acting as a water services provider to consumers
- providing water services in a joint venture with water services authorities
- performing water conservation functions
- commercial laboratory services
The proposed amendments to the Water Services Act are seeking to ensure that WSAs provide water services to an acceptable standard. To strengthen the provisions of the Water Services Act and to assess if WSPs are providing water to standard, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) wants to introduce an operating licence.
“A license will only be issued to entities with relevant technical and financial competencies. The proposed amendment will still allow municipalities to be both a WSA and WSP, but they must have a license to carry out the WSP function. It is envisaged that many municipalities will not qualify for the license and existing water boards with a reputation for quality and competence – like UUW – will then be called upon to provide such services. The amendments to this act will be a massive driver for future growth and will expand our footprint beyond Kwa-Zulu Natal,” maintains Thompson. Training and skills development This growth will generate a greater need for skills.
The decline of engineers in municipalities over time Currently, there is a decline in the number of engineers working in municipalities. This is due to budget constraints in municipalities that are not collecting revenue, reluctance to work in rural areas, poor salaries, immigration and frustrations with working within the public sector. Failing municipal infrastructure can be largely attributed to the dwindling numbers of engineers working in municipalities. “UWS is currently training 40 engineering graduates to professional registration status. This is a four-to-five-year programme. Surprisingly, we are experiencing difficulty in placing these engineers in municipalities as there are very few openings. There needs to be professionalisation within the water sector. While South Africa is in dire need of new water infrastructure, that infrastructure needs to have qualified, competent and technical people that are involved in its planning, building, maintenance and operation,” adds Thompson. Through the Umgeni Water Learning Academy, UWS is using its institutional and financial capacity to provide technical training and mentorship to address the dire skills shortage in the water sector in Southern Africa and improve service delivery. The academy is essentially a ‘University of Practice’, which emphasizes hands-on learning and practical skills development. Once a technical skill is learnt, the student will go into the field, put that technical skill into practice and receive mentorship. UWS will also be playing a key role in PPPs or state to state partnerships. UUW holds an 18.5% investment in one of the most successful PPPs to date – the Durban Water Recycling Project that supplies treated wastewater to industrial companies. Furthermore, many stakeholders in the local water sector are also interested in developing partnerships with UWS to explore local and international opportunities. Another one of UWS’s objectives is to identify and solicit international grants to assist in funding non-bankable projects which have not been developed as they are deemed to be unsustainable through traditional project funding. “UUW has over 300 engineers, scientists, technologists and technicians, world class laboratory services, expertise in infrastructure capital investment and planning management and catchment management skills. UWS is well positioned to drive the growth of the Group. This will be done through fostering customer relationships, the Umgeni Water Learning Academy as well as the growth of uMngeni-uThukela Waters’ Section 30 commercial activities and partnerships,” concludes Thompson. 
