Partnering for sustainable water governance
The water sector must embrace new technological innovations, and local and regional partnerships are essential
How societies choose to govern their water resources and services has profound impacts on people’s livelihood and the sustainability of water resources. Access to water is, for many people, a matter of daily survival, and it can help to break the vicious circle of poverty. Improving water governance is therefore essential to alleviating global poverty.
The 5th Water Research Commission (WRC) Biennial Symposium, held virtually over three days from 20 to 22 September 2021, featured one minister and three deputy ministers, who participated in the event on the first day.
In his opening address, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu congratulated the WRC on its 50th anniversary and commended the organisation for the non-diminishing purpose that it fulfils. He said the WRC is a significant contributor to research, development and innovation in the sector, but also a significant convenor of the players in the water sector, giving everyone a sense of belonging in the water family. He said the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is counting on the WRC family to help the department live up to its mantra: Water is Life, Sanitation is Dignity.
“The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is the highest law in the land,” Mchunu added, “All obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled. We therefore have a duty to improve the quality of life of all citizens.” He said a robust water security strategy will be implemented to future-proof the country’s water resources.
Mchunu said that the ongoing drought that continues to be experienced in some parts of the country and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated water and sanitation challenges. He urged the WRC to continue addressing
water quantity and quality challenges through innovation and new technologies. He said sustained investments in cutting-edge innovative technologies and solutions will revolutionise sanitation.
He encouraged the water sector to embrace technological innovations and recognise them as the game-changer that is needed to secure our water, now and in the future. He encouraged the sector to be open to new ideas and approaches to deliver water services, and stressed the importance of embracing 4IR and new ways of doing things.
Deputy Minister’s Roundtable
The first day of the symposium also saw the convening of a special Deputy Minister’s Roundtable with the theme Partnering to Build a Resilient Water Sector. Facilitated by lecturer at the University of the Western Cape, Dr Kevin Pietersen, the panel comprised Thembi Nkadimeng, Deputy Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), as well as Deputy Ministers David Mahlobo and Dikeledi Magadzi of DWS.
Discussions centred around the need for partnership in challenging times and the value of meaningful partnership among institutions to ensure the expected outcomes are realised. Magadzi said the departments such as the DWS, Cogta and the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (DHESI), as well as their research entities such as the CSIR, needed to work with the WRC to make sure South Africa is able to live up to its constitutional requirement of water as a right for all. “We need to work together in meaningful engagements and relationships with communities, especially more vulnerable communities, to ensure that we meet their
needs and to do more to ensure that South Africans receive water,” she asserted. “This is a central issue, especially from a socioeconomic perspective.”
Unity of purpose and water for peace
Mahlobo spoke of the diplomatic value of water science and how water can build bridges, as demonstrated in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where regional water policy provides a framework for sustainable, integrated and co-ordinated development, utilisation, protection and the control of national and transboundary water resources in the region. He said water could be a catalyst for peace in the region.
Continental engagement is also important and the vision of Agenda 2063 for the African continent is also a very important instrument towards achieving the SGDS, including SDG 6, he added.
He then zoned into the national level and spoke of marshalling all citizens in a social compact that can turn this country around. But, he cautioned, there must be a unity of purpose, a unity of understanding and shared aspirations. Access to water is a universal human right and it is captured in the National Water Act. Democratic freedom is incomplete without access to water and sanitation. We need to continue investing in institutions and in RDI to deliver water services.
Some practical and effective solutions
This symposium comes at a very important time in our lives as we face water scarcity and global climate change, said Nkadimeng. In her address she spoke of building a resilient
water future through water conservation, demand management and groundwater. Her experience in local government shone through as she emphasised the need for partnerships and the need for addressing aspects related to co-operative governance.
“As communities we continue to treat water as a resource that is in abundance and 100% renewable. It is renewable, but we have not reached the stage — especially at municipal level — where we are able to live with the levels as defined by the Triple R approach of reduce, reuse and recycle.”
She had some very practical suggestions to achieve the reuse model. “Water saving measures awareness through meaningful community engagement needs to be led by Cogta and implemented by municipalities. We need proper spatial planning and the nine-litre cisterns that are produced and installed as standard on ablution facilities must go down to six or seven litres at most.
“We need to design wastewater treatment facilities in new ways and retrofit systems to reduce the use of potable water to flush toilets. The municipalities need to retrofit wastewater treatment facilities to reuse wastewater and the funds need to be made available for this. I think rainwater tanks must become commonplace. We also need to explore the sustainable use of additional underground water to complement supply.”
Finally, Nkadimeng alluded to infrastructure financing and suggested looking at the District Development Model. “If we all partner together through this model, it could be easy for the DWS to deal with the governance and planning of water supply in co-operation with entire districts in order to build a resilient water future.”