Virus shows up service failures

THE Covid-19 crisis has highlighted South Africa’s critical state of water supply services as people from many communities complain they cannot wash their hands frequently because they do not have water supplies, says the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE).

It has written to President

Cyril Ramaphosa to advise him that the country’s failing municipal water services require urgent restructuring “to halt the destructive cycle of wasteful investment and incompetent management”.

While infrastructure has been provided for 95% of the country’s people, Statistics SA reports that only 65% are served with safe and reliable water supplies.

“In these circumstances, the recent announcement that billions of rand will be allocated to municipalities as part of Covid19 relief, brings little comfort,” it says. “That money will be wasted unless it is used to build properly designed infrastructure that will be operated correctly.”

There are 278 municipalities in the country, of which 144 are water services authorities (WSAS), with the responsibility for ensuring the provision of water supply and sanitation services.

A 2019 Municipal Strategic Self-assessment revealed 40% of WSAS are rated as extremely vulnerable and another 38% as highly vulnerable. Only 6% have a low level of vulnerability.

“Some 54% of all WSAS rely on grant funding for more than 90% of their capital expenditure, 58% collect less than 70% of billed revenue and 42% have a nonrevenue water value of more than 40%.”

SAAE says urgent actions are needed to address the root causes of the “dire state of water services” in municipalities, including weak management; a lack of competent and experienced professional and technical staff; political interference in day-to-day operations, and poor oversight “resulting from the limited separation of powers between political policymakers and the executive management in WSAS.

The number of WSAS must be cut. “When responsibility for water services was given to local government in a democratic South Africa, the economic landscape was very different. Today, as they struggle to cope with declines in revenues from mining and other industries and with having to supply rapidly growing populations, many municipalities are not financially sustainable.”

A two-year part-time management development programme is needed to develop a cadre of directors of technical services in municipalities.

“The absence of experienced in-house engineering professionals results in very poor levels of service delivery. There needs to be a significant country-wide drive to upskill municipal staff and recruit young professionals and technical staff, providing the necessary support and mentoring programmes to them.”

There is a need for about

30 000 skilled artisans and 30 000 competent treatment plant operators in municipalities.

“A return to skills-based apprentice training supported by classroom learning is necessary.”

SAAE says to achieve financially viable water and sanitation service delivery within municipalities, the cost effective procurement of infrastructure “that is fit for purpose and not over-elaborate” is essential, if these services are to be affordable.

“This requires skilled in-house engineering professionals able to manage consultants and contractors and to issue comprehensive project briefs and documents of an acceptable standard.” |