B Sonjica: Mpumalanga Provincial Water Summit

16 January 2006

Honourable Premier
Honourable members of the Provincial Executive Committee
Honourable members of Parliament and the Provincial Legislature
Mayors and councillors
Distinguished guests
Directors-General and Heads of Departments
Ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted to address you today on this auspicious occasion of the Water
Summit of the Mpumalanga Province. Honourable Premier, bringing together all
the water sector stakeholders is indeed a fitting co-operative platform for us
to forge our strategies to meet the challenges that we face and we will
overcome together.

At the advent of democracy in 1994, government undertook to review the
fundamental principles underlying water policy in South Africa. This process
culminated in the publication of the White Paper in 1995, which laid the basis
for new legislation governing water resources management (National Water Act,
1998 (Act 36 of 1998) and water services (Water Services Act, 1997 (Act 108 of
1997)).

The most important principles guiding these two pieces of legislation are
that water belongs to the people of South Africa and that as a custodian of
water, government should help manage this resource sustainably, for the social
and economic benefit of our people. While we are proud of the considerable
progress we have made with regard to the provision of basic water and
sanitation services, we still have in the order of 1,6 million people in this
Province that do not have access to these very necessary basic services.

Water is life and in our country, where water is a scarce resource we have
to ensure that we protect and conserve this very precious resource. We will not
be able to provide clean reliable water and sanitation facilities to our people
if we do not ensure the resource itself is protected, allocated and managed
efficiently. We must also ensure that the past inequities in allocation of
water resources and access to services are redressed.

Our National Water Resource Strategy and the Water Services Strategic
Framework are aimed at addressing these challenges and during the presentations
and discussions; I hope you will consider how our strategic programmes are
aligned with and support your priorities. These strategies further place
emphasis on ensuring that Municipalities not only execute their mandate in
respect of water services provision but are also given a chance to have a say
in the management of our water resources.

Water Resource Management is a national competency as water respects no
boundaries and must be allocated in the interest of the nation as a whole.
Nevertheless, we are committed to enabling full stakeholder participation in
local water management issues and this will essentially be done through the
establishment of catchment management agencies (CMAs). History was made in
Mpumalanga when the first CMA to be established in the country was established
in Inkomati Water Management Area in terms of the National Water Act and I am
very pleased to say, that the Governing Board is chaired by a woman - Mrs
Patience Nyakane.

There will in fact be two CMAs in this province – the Inkomati and Olifants
CMA’s. These Agencies will ultimately manage water resources in terms of water
allocation, water use licensing and water discharges at a catchment level. We
are furthermore, institutionalising the institutionalisation of water resources
management at a local level by supporting the establishment of Water User
Associations so that groups of water users can be assisted to co-operate in
their management of this scarce resource. I can assure you that through these
processes of establishing CMAs and Water User Associations we are committed to
the full participation of affected stakeholders.

In this Province we must pay particular attention to the allocation of water
and the needs and development of small farmers who were denied opportunities in
the past. We are collaborating with Provincial Government to do this and to
ensure water is well managed and the hardships of drought and the variability
of water availability are scientifically assessed and managed. Together we must
ensure that the provision of services that depend on these resources is based
on sound investigations and decision making into the ability of the resource to
yield sufficient water, even in drought situations. We can ill afford any
negative impacts on our consumers with systems that regularly fail due to poor
planning and resources that are not able to yield sufficient water when we have
below average rainfall.

Having said that, you may very well ask what are we in fact doing to ensure
that you have access to sustainable resources. In this regard I would make
reference to the excellent progress being made on the R 3 billion Olifants
River Water Resources Development Project (ORWDP), with the raising of Flag
Boshielo Dam near Marble Hall already under construction and a Record of
Decision having been issued in November 2005 for the construction of the De
Hoop Dam near Steelpoort.

These projects are driven by the social and economic needs in both Limpopo
and Mpumalanga, where there is an urgent need for socio-economic upliftment and
development. More water at a reasonable level of assurance will enable
considerable mining expansion and will bring about local employment, much
needed economic growth and other benefits such as the much needed expansion of
domestic water supply systems. I expect that if we are able to keep to our
current schedule that the first water from the De Hoop Dam could be supplied as
early as 2009/2010, with the full yield being available by 2011/2012.

Another very important initiatives that will contribute to sustainable water
resource management particularly with regard to managing the quality of the
resources and at the same time enhancing public-private partnerships, is the
planned augmentation of the Emalahleni reticulated supply though a mine water
treatment scheme set up by Anglo Operations Limited. This will ensure
substantial cost savings to Government in that the estimated cost of R180
million to Emalahleni for the initial Vaal River Eastern Sub-system
Augmentation Project (VRESAP) will not be required given that the mine water
company is absorbing all the cost for the capital infrastructure. Solutions of
this nature are truly beneficial since they also meet the requirements of
sustainable closure management options by the mines.

Earlier in my address I made reference to the fact that water resources
management is a national competence in that water respects no boundaries. How
do we therefore relate to our neighbouring states? Many of the river systems in
Mpumalanga are part of internationally shared water courses and we have to
comply with certain international protocols and agreements in developing and
managing these river systems. Continuous consultation and negotiation with our
neighbouring states, Swaziland and Mozambique, in line with Southern African
Development Community (SADC) protocols is essential to ensure that we achieve
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) objectives and stimulate
regional development and economic growth.

While the Interim Inco-Maputo Agreement (IIMA) was signed at the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 as a tri-partite agreement between
RSA, Swaziland and Mozambique to achieve the abovementioned objectives, we are
still posed with very complex challenges since water is already over-allocated
in South Africa and with the requirements of Mozambique expected to increase;
very careful planning and implementation of any development of options as well
as the implementation of acceptable operating rules for joint beneficial use
will be required.

Furthermore, for the purpose of joint development and management of water
resources between South Africa and Swaziland, the two counties formed an
international agency, the Komati Basin Water Authority (KOBWA), which is
accountable to both countries through a Joint Water Commission (JWC). One
aspect which still needs to be given consideration is the participation of the
Mpumalanga Provincial Government on this structure

Despite the fact that we have these International Structures in place, due
to the prevailing drought conditions we are currently finding it difficult to
meet the agreed minimum cross border flow requirements on the Komati River
system and will certainly have to find a solution to this in order to address
the long term needs of the Region. I am still awaiting the outcome of an
analysis of the impact of the recent rains on the system.

I am sure that we are all aware, the country has experienced below-average
rainfall over the past two years leading to water shortages in many areas of
the country-including Mpumalanga. However, this situation has improved somewhat
in a number of areas. What invariably happens however, after extended periods
of below average rainfall is that we experience high rainfall over short
periods which then leads to flooding and the consequent loss of property and
sometimes the loss of life. We do have to be prepared to manage these flood
situations.

Let me reflect on what happened in Standerton last week. It was only as a
result of the management by my Department of the outflows from the Grootdraai
Dam that we were able to ensure that damage to properties and infrastructure
was minimised. Nevertheless, the Joint Operations Committee (JOC), still had to
take the precautionary measures to prepare some 30 houses adjacent to the Vaal
River for evacuation. This also happened in 1996 when families had to be
evacuated and businesses were also affected. These floods will happen
periodically and it is therefore imperative that the Standerton Municipality
and the Provincial Department of Housing and Local Government take this into
account in their planning to ensure that no development takes place in the
areas which are frequently affected by flooding. I would suggest that it is
necessary that urgent steps are now taken to clear these areas and to relocate
the residences or alternatively to investigate alternative options of
mitigating the effects of such flooding.

In many cases, the dam levels are far below average for this time of the
yearly rainfall cycle. This crisis calls for co-operation between my Department
and users, including municipalities. I would therefore, like to confirm that my
Department will continue to offer information on the water situation, technical
support to users through established disaster management systems and support
financial assistance through the routine national government disaster
management funding to alleviate the effects of drought.

To date a total of R38,6 million was allocated to the various municipalities
in the province for Drought relief. In December 2005 an additional R10 million
was allocated to the province to address the persistent drought problem.

Your Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) underlines the
priorities of ensuring service delivery, integrating investments in
infrastructure, promoting sustainable economic development and job creation and
protecting the vulnerable including those with HIV/AIDS. There is no doubt that
the availability of water will play a critical role in achieving these
priorities and in the development of Mpumalanga. I do anticipate that the
recently approved policy for financial assistance for resource poor farmers
which also includes a subsidy for Rain Water Tanks for family food production
will contribute to the objectives of the PGDS in a very tangible way.

The Working for Water (WfW) Programme that contributes to the sustainable
prevention and controlling of invasive alien plants, also aims to address
poverty relief and promote economic empowerment and transformation within a
public works framework. The hydrological, ecological and agricultural long-term
goals of the Working for Water Programme also includes economic development,
socio-economic empowerment and institutional development. The program aims to
relieve poverty by employing previously disadvantaged individuals (60% women;
20% youth; and 5% disabled).

My Department is aware of the fact that some of the Municipalities in the
Province (Water Services Authorities) are faced with serious challenges with
regards to service delivery to their consumers. It is absolutely critical that
our resources and support programmes are integrated to ensure that these
Municipalities are able to perform their functions as Water Services
Authorities. Any existing capacity gaps will have to be dealt with,
municipalities must ensure that sufficient skilled people are employed to
deliver a quality water services to their consumers.

We all are also aware that some municipalities in the Province are
experiencing problems with the management of sewage treatment works and water
purification plants. I must emphasise that it is the responsibility of each
Water Service Authority to ensure proper planning, budgeting and management of
such infrastructure to prevent service delivery breakdowns and pollution
incidents. Sufficient provision must be made for operation and maintenance of
existing infrastructure to prevent service delivery failures. My Department has
committed to and will continue to give its full support to the various Project
Consolidate initiatives in your Province.

The planning and the provision of infrastructure is only the start of
providing water supply and sanitation. Our plans and high quality
infrastructure will be of no benefit if good management of operations is not
practised to ensure reliable good quality supplies and to avoid dry taps,
blocked toilets and polluted rivers. Water quality monitoring and response
systems must be developed and put in place. Then of course the reliability and
quality of service provision must be effectively monitored and reported on and
actions taken where exceptions are identified. An effective monitoring system
with early warning mechanisms if established will ensure that you are able to
react to potential problems and prevent system failures.

The challenge of Water Quality Management within the context of Integrated
Water Resources Management requires a multi-disciplinary approach in a
multi-sectoral environment to ensure sustainable total water management from
source to supply and meeting the demands with regards to fitness for use from
the various sectors. Strategic monitoring networks for surface water resources
are developed. The information gathered is critical for the future management
and development of our resources. We jointly need to develop sufficient
capacity to ensure that sustainable total water management is practised.

The Delmas typhoid incident (2005) is a case in point where capacity to
ensure total water management was lacking and as a result had near disastrous
consequences, notwithstanding the fact that a similar incident had taken place
in 1993, after which a report was commissioned by the CSIR on the incident. The
recurrence in 2005 indicates that the initial recommendations, in terms of the
CSIR report, made to avert a similar crisis where not followed through. The
lesson learnt is that a closer working relationship is required with
municipalities even at the operational level until it is shown that they have
the capacity to be self regulatory.

An integrated monitoring program (resource to reticulation) has been
developed for Delmas by my Department and is being funded and managed by my
Department for the first six months (programme commenced in November 2005). The
necessary skills for this activity are currently being transferred to the
Delmas Municipality and it is envisaged that this capacity will reside in the
municipality in the near future. The presence and interaction of my Department
with the Municipality the Provincial Department of Local Government Housing at
the regular Joint Operations Committee meetings also fosters the ideals of
co-operative governance.

To alleviate poverty and to ensure equitable access to water services by all
people, we have to ensure that the Free Basic Water Policy is effectively
applied in all municipalities. This can be done if we understand that it goes
hand-in-hand with proper financial management and functional cost recovery to
ensure financial viability of the services that municipalities provide. It is
recognised that progress with the implementation of free basic water and
sanitation in Mpumalanga is faced with serious challenges especially in the
former homeland areas, where large regional schemes exist with a history of non
payment, little demand management and high water losses. The extreme levels of
poverty in these areas also require that effective policies are implemented as
a matter of priority.

Although my Department is supporting the bucket eradication programme in the
Province, there are concerns about the upgrading to full waterborne sanitation.
You must please remember that it takes water to flush toilets. Make sure that
existing water supply and sewage treatment infrastructure can accommodate this
or make plans for expansion. You must also ensure that your projects are
financially viable and that you have the necessary skills and resources to
operate and maintain the services, particularly in areas where the majority of
the community is reliant on free basic services.

The transfer of water services schemes and staff to Municipalities has not
progressed as well as planned. I am, however, informed that Nkomazi and
Mbombela Local Municipalities have taken full transfer and that the Operation
and Maintenance of this infrastructure is progressing well. While I have also
been advised that all other Municipalities have committed to take transfer and
processes are underway to finalise the transfers I must emphasise the very
urgent need to finalise all transfer agreements by the 31 March 2006.

In our transition from water services provider to a regulator, my Department
will provide hands-on support to municipalities to improve their Water Services
Development Plans, to implement demand management and conservation measures and
to use their Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) effectively and institute
proper monitoring programmes. We will partner the Department of Provincial and
Local Government to ensure the success of Project Consolidate.

In closing, I wish to state that water has played a prominent role to
establish the principles of equality, dignity and equity, the right to safe and
healthy living, the right to food and jobs and an unqualified opportunity to
develop our human and economic assets.

The PGDS has set important milestones with regard to development issues that
are dependent on water services. This clearly demonstrates the common goals and
principles we share with you as a province. Let us join forces and minds and
work together to achieve a better life for all our people in an effective and
sustainable way.

Let this water summit be used to strengthen our national, provincial and
local government links and ensure that we attain our common objective of
alleviating pain from the lives of our people and bring stability and
prosperity.

“Let there be water for sustainable growth and development for all in
Mpumalanga.”

Thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Water Affairs and Forestry
16 January 2006