and Forestry at the Stockholm Water Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden
21 August 2006
âBenefit sharing in transboundary waters â The SADC approach and the South
African experienceâ
Programme director
Honourable members of the panel
Distinguished guests
Friends in water and sanitation from all over the world
It is indeed an honour for me as the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
from South Africa to join you today to discuss the issue of the benefits in
sharing transboundry waters. I would like to talk about the approach of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the South African experience
as practical examples of sharing transboundry waters.
Southern Africa is a water-stressed region but this is not the case for all
countries in our region, and the sharing of water resources between countries
is for us not merely an academic or policy exercise, it has a direct impact on
whether people will live or die in times of drought, whether their crops will
fail, and whether livestock will survive.
Ensuring that there are benefits for all countries in the sharing of water
resources is therefore critical and is the approach we have adopted in our
region, as it contributes to the sustainability and ongoing commitment to
sharing of this precious resource.
The SADC approach
The Southern African Development Community or SADC is one of the five
Regional Economic Communities on the African continent. It is a formalised
structure that promotes regional co-operation on a number of issues such as
policy, trade, infrastructure, energy, tourism and water amongst other things.
Within the structures of SADC we have a water division to specifically focus on
promoting co-operation amongst the 14 member states. And we have a protocol on
shared watercourses that was first adopted in 1995.
This Protocol sets the framework for future water resource development and
management in the shared watercourses in SADC. It promotes and facilitates the
establishment of shared watercourse agreements and very importantly
institutions to manage these agreements and we already have agreements and
institutions being established arising from our co-operation arrangements with
the protocol being quite specific on what these institutions aims and
objectives should be. The protocol seeks to advance the sustainable, equitable
and reasonable utilisation of shared watercourses; promote a co-ordinated and
integrated environmentally sound development and management of shared
watercourses; as well as promote harmonisation and monitoring of legislation
and policies. Finally the protocol promotes research, technology development
and information exchange.
The South African experience
Overall, South Africa comes far down the list of water availability per
capita so bringing water from other parts of the country to water stressed
areas, which is something we do, is not always possible, particularly in
drought years. Furthermore, like many other countries, we are experiencing the
impact of global climate change, with increased variations in rainfall and
extreme events. As a country already prone to droughts and floods this scenario
remains extremely worrying, and one that has the potential to threaten our
water security.
Programme director, South Africa shares four water basins, namely the Orange
River, the Limpopo River, the Inkomati River, and the Maputo River. And through
co-operation with our neighbours, in line with the SADC protocol on shared
watercourses, we are responding to the water needs of our country to the mutual
benefit of all parties involved.
Over the years a number of âJoint Water Commissionsâ and âJoint Technical
Committeesâ have been established to discuss and negotiate issues of common
interest, to manage the water resources or implement joint development
projects.
The best known is the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission, which is
responsible for the overall management of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
Two agencies have been established to implement the project, namely:
* The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA), which was established
to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain the components of the project
in Lesotho.
* The Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) to plan, design, construct, operate
and maintain the components in South Africa; and to take responsibility for all
the financial arrangements related to the project. The water component of the
project is financed through loans, which are repaid through water use charges
in the areas served by the project in South Africa.
The benefit sharing between Lesotho and South Africa was critical and forms
the cornerstone to the project, and indeed made the project possible.
The benefits to South Africa include the increased security of water supply
to Johannesburg and the Gauteng Province.
The benefits to Lesotho include major infrastructure development in the
country such as roads, power lines, communication lines, schools and clinics; a
hydropower scheme supplying the electricity needs of the whole of Lesotho; and,
a constant income from the selling of water to South Africa. The supply of
reliable energy is a prerequisite for economic development and this project
therefore has the potential to further stimulate economic growth.
A second situation where we have implemented a transboundry arrangement is
in the Inkomati Basin. Here the institutional set-up is a little different, and
maybe more efficient and more in line with the SADC strive towards regional
integration. A Joint Water Commission between South Africa and Swaziland
oversees the implementation of the Komati Basin Project. The water supplied by
the project is mainly for irrigation development of small-scale farmers in both
countries and therefore directly in line with the goals of SADC. The needs of
Mozambique and the environment are also taken into account. Both countries are
sharing the benefits of increased insurance of water supply for irrigation. The
costs are shared in the same ratio as the water is shared. The difficulty of
the arrangement is to also ensure that the benefits of the project flow to the
other country of the basin, i.e., to Mozambique.
The third case is that of the Orange Senqu Commission (ORASECOM), which was
established in 2000 between South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia to
manage the Orange River. The ORASECOM is slowly moving towards a true âriver
basin organisationâ with responsibilities and capacities separate from the
member states. The ORASECOM has now decided to establish a Secretariat that
will exist as an autonomous international organisation with its own personnel
and financial resources.
The fourth case is the Limpopo Watercourse Commission, which was established
in 2004 between South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to manage the
Limpopo River.
We are also looking at further commissions between South Africa, Swaziland
and Mozambique to manage the Inkomati and Maputo Rivers.
The conclusions of sharing water resources and rivers, and the benefits of
doing so are clear for southern Africa. While these benefits are not
necessarily transferable to other regions, they include:
1. The clear social and health benefits of having enough water to drink, use
in agriculture, and for economic activity.
2. There are positive economic spin-offs from investment in water
infrastructure; showing the clear link between water and economic growth for
developing economies in Africa. This link is one of the main themes in my
department and informs the approach we have taken in this area both
domestically and in our co-operation with our neighbouring countries. The
development of water infrastructure and the major investment in infrastructure
programmes such as dams have been identified as having critical importance to
support and stimulate our growth and development plans; with the South African
government committing funding and other resources to ensure infrastructure for
water and sanitation is developed.
3. Promoting regional co-operation and co-operation across the continent.
Through the New Partnership for Africaâs Development (NEPAD) we are seeing
intra-African co-operation at a number of levels, including at a political,
cultural, academic, economic, infrastructure, and in water issues. They all are
tied together, for example, water from the Congo River for hydropower is linked
to political stability, technical co-operation, well-maintained transboundry
infrastructure, etc. We, as African countries, need to align and integrate our
plans with initiatives of other countries. NEPAD and institutions such as AMCOW
therefore have a critical role to play here.
4. The benefits to local communities, as our view is that no matter whether
the water project is sovereign or transboundry, local communities must benefit
from the project. We also have to work harder in implementing Integrated Water
Resource management (IWRM) to be able to impact on poverty that is affecting
Africa, South Africa included.
5. Knowledge sharing on issues affecting the water sector across countries
in the continent, although a great deal more can be done in this area. We have
to encourage and see improved participation of African countries in events of
this nature.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
21 August 2006
