Address by Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Mrs Pamela Tshwete at the Water and Sanitation Master Plan Dialogue CSIR Convention Centre Pretoria
Programme Director
Deputy Ambassador of Netherlands
Director General Department of Water and Sanitation Water Sector Partners and Dignitaries
Ladies and gentlemen
At the onset, Programme Director, dignitaries here present, Ladies and gentlemen, accept our sincere appreciation and welcome to this occasion on South Africa's first National Water and Sanitation Dialogue, on the Master Plan, in partnership with Netherlands and all our water sector partners, in our crucial endeavour to table an informed plan for the sustainable provision of water for social benefit and economic development in our country.
The Diplomatic Cooperation between Netherlands and South Africa in the field of water is intense with well established relationships existing between the two governments, South African counterparts, Dutch Water Boards, Non- Governmental Organisations, Water Companies, Agencies, Municipalities, Knowledge and Research Institutes and Businesses.
I must thank the many water sector players who have done so much to overcome a multitude of challenges in dealing with backlogs whilst ensuring provision of water and decent sanitation facilities. In the same vain, I must mention that the emergence of the new settlements continue to a challenge as we now deal with moving targets on new water shortages, and decent sanitation facilities. These new challenges affect our ability to plan for sustainable and equitable water needs for future. Our experience in the sector informs us of the need to introduced technologies for the sector infrastructure development if we are to do our work quicker and efficiently.
The Water and Sanitation Master Plan that is being introduced at this dialogue today is a collaborative plan to share information, improve our capabilities and strengthen already existing and new partnerships. These objectives must give proper effect to our efforts towards achievement of seamless integrative and transparent service delivery methods. Apart from our sector obligation, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are very clear on the fact that every citizen has a right
to a healthy life, right to decent sanitation, access to food and water, and the right to have the environment that is protected.
This then require us to deliver water as a social and human right, water for economic development sectors such as Mining, Agriculture for food security, Energy and Manufacturing and other Industrial operations to inject and grow our economy. All of these taken care of in the sector can contribute to sustainable jobs, with decent household income. The National Development Plan (NDP) also provides a broad strategic framework to guide key choices and actions for the country in achieving sustainable development, eliminate poverty, and reduce inequality by 2030. All of this will need the Master Plan that you will engage today to achieve. To realise this 2030 Vision, one of the enabling milestones is “to ensure that all South Africa have access to clean running water for all”.
South Africa is a relatively water scarce and dry country. The most important source of surface and groundwater is rainfall, the prevailing variable occurrence of which nature dictates including its uneven distribution. This means that considerable technical intervention is required to store water where it is available and distribute to where it is needed. The available water is already intensively utilised and its availability is becoming more and more complex and costly. These forms of surface water use are now rapidly reaching their limits and the potential for development of new dams is limited. To counter this problem, efforts to increase water conservation and water demand management needs to be intensified to better utilise the available water.
Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 seeks to achieve the availability and sustainable provision of water and sanitation for all. These SDGs address the most pressing of global challenges, calling upon collaborative partnerships across and between countries to balance the three tiers of sustainable development economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion, reducing extreme poverty amongst nations. The Departmental
National Water Resources Strategy II recognizes and places water at the centre of all sectors of the economy including energy, agriculture, mining, manufacturing industry, tourism and urban and rural development. The development, allocation and protection of water is thus an essential prerequisite for inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication and the reduction of inequality in South Africa.
The problem is particularly pronounced in smaller municipalities, whilst bigger and well-resourced municipalities are doing better. Pressure for additional water is being brought about by population increase due to natural growth, migration and rising standards of living, and the need for economic growth. Municipal service delivery problems such as non-payment of services, lack of technical personnel, lessons learnt from the recent drought conditions, and inadequate disaster management plans are the main reasons affecting the provision of increased capacity of our current infrastructure. The situation has been reached where a new focus is required to achieve envisaged water supply, sanitation coverage, and appropriate standards for sustainability.
This sector achieved a lot, but more can still be done in partnership between industry, labour, government and civil society, to achieve the best results for the considerable investment in various projects and initiatives in the sector. We therefore call upon all this stakeholders, in particular big Business to assist in funding some of the beneficial projects that will contribute to the sustainable development that we aspire. Some of the aspects that need considered in the evaluation of our work are issues related to governance management, strategic water resource planning, adequacy of feasibility studies, allocation of responsibilities, accountability, coordination and integration, financial efficiency, communication, partnerships, funding models and investment programs, monitoring, innovation, capacity building and dealing with gaps. The Dialogue on the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan is as a result of the experience of the Minister and after we visited the nine provinces to assess the state of water services and the availability of sanitation facilities. The picture presented was not good at all.
This Master Plan is about re-engineering the manner in which the water and sanitation business in South Africa is coordinated and guided. Working with all water sector partners we want to see a high level actionable plan, role players, milestones and resources required towards achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The genesis of this Master Plan would be a strong partnership with all stakeholders present here. It is about mobilising the entire water family to take the lead in their own spaces by selling this concept, collating relevant data on what needs to be done, and providing technical expertise into the task teams for strategic contributions.
Our final product must be a product of meetings, consultations and workshops that we will undertake in the course of this year. Your support to this initiative should be underpinned by an Administrative Agreement with all major role players. A coordinated implementation plan to ensure achievability is required with a clear Road Map of all key programmes, projects and actions necessary. We need to identify and define the essential enablers such as financing and institutional models, as well as its roll-out and monitoring plans. The Master Plan will rely on the existing and new projects for implementation, and where necessary additional projects to fill the gaps in water and sanitation service delivery. It aims to mould existing and possible future work into a cohesive integrated approach, supporting enabling components to make it possible.
The brief obligation is to ensure that all people of South Africa have access to potable water and suitable sanitation services. That all other water users will also have sufficient water, and that the environment is suitably protected, taking cognisance of the potential impact of climate change.
In conclusion, the success of this Master Plan will depend on us working together and jointly developing and implementing this plan. I hope and trust that we will produce a landmark in improving and streamlining water and sanitation services in South Africa.
I thank you.
