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MANZINI – Some permitted water users, mostly farmers, have rejected the proposed implementation of water pricing regulations.
Their contention was that government was already taxing them to the bone. This transpired during the ongoing stakeholder consultation on water pricing regulations, which is carried out by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, Department of Water Affairs and the Joint River Basin Authorities Project Board.
Yesterday, the consultation was held at The George Hotel, where the stakeholders, who are permitted to use Usuthu River Basin, were educated on the implementation of the Water Act of 2003, specifically by introducing water pricing as an instrument for improving water resources management in the country.
These engagements are conducted following Section 8 of the Water Act, which advocates for the promulgation of regulations on the setting of fees, levies or charges for covering water management costs, associated costs for operation and maintenance of government water works, permit application and administrative costs for monitoring permitted water use.
Such pronouncements are also stipulated in the Water Policy of 2018. Despite being enshrined as a key instrument for promoting water conservation and improving water use efficiency in both the National Water Policy and the Water Act, water pricing was still not being implemented in the country, adversely affecting water resources management, with Eswatini lagging behind its neighbouring countries.
After the team from the ministry, Department of Water Affairs and the Joint River Basin Authorities - Project Board had made their presentations, they opened the floor to the attendees to ask for clarity and make comments.
One of them, who identified himself as Bongani Ngcamphalala, said costs of various things, including farm inputs, had increased rapidly recently. On top of that, he said they were paying a lot of taxes to government. He then wondered why the tax they were paying to government was not used to accommodate everything, including sustaining operations of water management.
In response to the issue of tax, the Joint River Basin Authorities - Project Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sindi Mthimkhulu, said they were also on the same boat as they also paid tax, like the permitted water users, which in turn built the dam they were using.
She said the unfortunate thing was that the tax which was paid by the permitted water users did not go back directly to the sector as it went to the pool of government programmes and needs, like health, as the world, including Eswatini, was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thereafter, she said with the implementation of the water pricing as an instrument for improving water resources management in the country, they were trying to have their own fund. She said the fund would solely address issues of water management across the country.
However, another farmer, Mduduzi Maphanga, said the implementation of water pricing would mean that small scale farmers like him would not afford business as they were already running it with loans, which they were failing to pay. He said this was because of the rapid increase of prices of electricity, hauling and pesticides, among others.
Tax
He submitted that currently, as farmers, they paid about 48 per cent as tax to government and this included corporate tax, value added tax (VAT) and Pay-AsYouEarn (PAYE) from their salaries, among others.
Therefore, he said should water pricing be implemented; they could lose their businesses to financial institutions because they would fail to service their loans. They said the implementation of water pricing should be stopped.
After that, Maphanga said some of them were already paying at least E450 per hectare annually, for water and because of the aforementioned taxes and rapid increase of prices, they could not afford to pay more.
In response to that, the Director of the
Department of WaterAffairs Chief Water Engineer, Emelda Magagula said most water users did not pay anything towards the management of water. However, the attendees said they should implement the water pricing to those who were not paying anything.
Thereafter, she said the instrument which they used to pay the E450 per hectare per annum was a resolution, not a law. Therefore, she suggested that they should at least advocate for it to be given more power to apply to everywhere so that those who were currently not paying, could be compelled to pay it. Otherwise, she said even bigger companies, which made huge profits, would continue to be on holiday in terms of paying the money. She added that this could at least give them a base on where to start.
However, Makhosini Matsenjwa, who draws water from Usuthu River, wondered how the ministry, Department of WaterAffairs and the Joint River Basin Authorities - Project Board, reached the conclusion that this was the right time to implement water pricing, through the Water Act of 2003.
He said his argument was that as small scale farmers, especially those in the sugar cane farming industry, they were sleeping on empty stomachs as the sector, which was known as the ‘Swati gold’ had turned into poverty. He said instead of implementing water pricing, they were expecting government to assist them survive.
In response, Magagula mentioned that this was a difficult question, especially because of the timing issue. However, she said the law (Water Act of 2003), which was about 12 years old, stated that those who benefitted from water had to pay.
“We need to manage it (water), but there are costs involved,” she said.