L Hendricks: Water Affairs and Forestry Family Day

7 December 2007

Programme Director
Acting Director-General
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) senior managers
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry staff

Introduction

Welcome to the DWAF Family Day! A great deal has happened since last year's
Family Day and I believe that we have worked really hard this year and have
achieved a huge amount. When I addressed you a year ago I spoke at length about
some of the challenges that I found in the department and I announced my
flagship projects to address these challenges. From the discussions I had in
the first few months after joining DWAF my sense was that there was concern
amongst staff that we were lacking leadership and direction.

My feeling this year is that not only is there a strong sense in the
department that we are now moving in the right direction and showing strong
leadership, but we starting to make a big impact on the sector. However, we are
not quite there yet, and I hope that everyone enjoys hard work because next
year we are going to be running. I wish to quote President Mbeki from his State
of the Nation Address at the beginning of this year, when he said "the message
that our collective experience communicates to all of us is that, working
together, we can and shall succeed in meeting the common objective we have set
ourselves as a nation – to build a better life for all."

Recognising the challenges that still lie ahead, the President continued and
said: "We are not there yet. But no one, except ourselves, shall ensure that
this dream is realized. And so, let us roll up our sleeves and get down to
work, fully understanding that the task to build the South Africa we yearn is a
common responsibility we all share."

Taking stock of progress made

Since announcing the flagship projects last year we have done well in
implementing many of these projects, and I would like to acknowledge and thank
DWAF staff for their efforts. I am aware of the long hours, nights, weekends,
interrupted holidays and sacrifices of this team. Your efforts have been
noticed and are appreciated.

All of our flagship projects are extremely important - both for the
department and for the country, and require our full attention. During the year
I added the Ministerial campaign to plant at least a million trees a year,
which arose after discussions I had with the President. We successfully
launched this project during Arbour Week and we have been very busy planting
trees and greening the country ever since.

I am aware that often we get caught up in our day-to-day activities and
focus only on our particular area of work. As a result we are not always aware
of other projects that we run as DWAF with our sheer size as a department it
means that there are lots of things happening across the department. Through
our regular executive committee (EXco), top management, Management Committee
(MANco) and Functional Management Committee meetings we have been ensuring that
managers are up to date on what is taking place in the department and I hope
that they are reporting back to you.

We are one DWAF and we need to know what other sections are doing and we
must feel part of the DWAF Family when there are events and activities. Through
Shota, the blue screen, the intranet, our web page and other publications we
are sharing information in different ways and are keeping ourselves abreast of
the work of DWAF. I must recognise the efforts of our communications team – it
is not always an easy job with the large number of events and activities that
we have but they are dedicated and hard working.

I would like to use my address today to briefly update you on the progress
we have made on some of these flagship projects, I am not able to talk to all
of these projects but recognise that work has happened in all of them.

Firstly, the Internal flagship projects:

1. Achieving a clean audit report during my term of office

Visible progress has been made towards this goal and we have appointed Mr
Onesmus Ayaya as our Chief Financial Officer and Ms Olga Hattingh as our Deputy
Chief Financial Officer, both of whom will be driving this critical project.
Many of you will have already met them. A few weeks ago we launched two
projects, the Sakhile and Siyanqoba projects, which once fully implemented will
go a long way to addressing the Auditor-General’s concerns of asset
verification and revenue management. As I said at the launch of these projects,
"with the establishment of the Water Infrastructure Agency the need to hand
over a clean set of financials with strong business processes is critical."

These are not the only measures that we are undertaking to move towards a
clean audit; we have been providing training across the department to improve
our levels of financial skills and capabilities. In addition and where
necessary we have been bringing additional financial staff into our regional
offices.

2. Alignment of the department to address the needs of the sector

This flagship project requires that we need to have a much clearer vision of
where we are moving to as a sector so that we are better able to deliver on the
mandate of DWAF and achieve the broader objectives of the government. It has
entailed that we evaluate the approach we have been taking so that we end up
with a model that is clear to all of us, has buy-in from staff and sector
players, and is implementable. By having a clear vision of where we are going,
we will be able to finalise our internal restructuring processes with
confidence.

There has been considerable progress on this project, and we held a
stakeholder workshop at the end of October to discuss institutional alignment.
At that workshop we discussed and deliberated on three different models for
improved alignment. These models were developed by a Task Team comprising a PSP
and DWAF officials. Certain key outcomes have started emerging but will still
require significant investigation, refinement and validation, and thorough
consultation with all stakeholders and affected parties will still need to be
done before I can make announcements on the future institutional
arrangements.

This exercise is not new, but rather the culmination of the long period of
restructuring that DWAF has been going through and is a refinement of the
implementation model so that we are better able to deliver on our mandate.

This project is closely linked to the external flagship project of: Improved
Governance and the alignment of the DWAF Public Entities. Clarity on the
institutional alignment will inform the structure of DWAF and will help us to
improve our ability to govern the agencies that report to us. And as DWAF
reaches the culmination of the restructuring process, which will see us
becoming a department that focuses on policy, monitoring, co-ordination,
regulation and oversight, so we need to be effective in providing clear
direction to our institutions. To provide strong oversight, requires that we
have the right structure, additional capacity, and improved ability to
co-ordinate and give direction.

3. Performance management and signing of performance agreements

The report I got is that all senior managers have signed their performance
agreements and we are looking forward to a proper and verifiable assessment
process being undertaken at the end of the financial year. Over the next year
we need to make sure that the performance management system is firmly in place
for all staff in DWAF.

4. Capacity building and skills development

DWAF continues to provide opportunities for staff development and personal
growth through the bursary and training programmes. We have also established
the Learning Academy that now has close to 100 graduates who are being exposed
to both practical and academic issues. We will be officially launching the
Learning Academy next year. We also have continued with the intern programme,
which is also providing scope for young graduates to be exposed to the
workplace.

And the External flagship projects:

1. Empowerment of women

The empowerment of women has an internal and external focus. Internally
during the women's month we launched the first "women indaba". The Indaba is
creating space for women to articulate own needs and generate solutions,
facilitate solidarity among women of DWAF and is providing a platform to share
with and learn from each other thereby advancing the cause of gender equality.
From that indaba we learnt that:
* There is a need to bridge the gap between women in management and other
levels.
* Inter-gender communication and understanding needs to be improved as there is
perception that women inputs are not valued by male managers or
supervisors.
* Women are not taking full advantage of the training that is available in
DWAF.

We also conducted a gender audit during the course of the year. It focused
on women at levels one to three and revealed that there are high levels of
illiteracy amongst those women; they are suffering from low levels of
self-esteem, and particularly for women working in our forests who face
challenges of domestic violence.

We have planned a number of interventions to address the challenges; which
include creating more platforms for women to have dialogues, the need to have
awareness and training on gender equality for male employees, a review the
effectiveness Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) must be conducted and
we must provide awareness and empower our staff on how to deal with domestic
violence. During this 16 days of activism for no violence against women and
children it is particularly important that we support our staff so that they
are able to deal with any form of domestic violence or abuse that might be
happening in their home.

Our external focus to support women in the water and forestry sector, has
seen us making a commitment to launching an organisation for women in the
sector where they can network, share information and be exposed to the
opportunities in the sector.

2. Our second external flagship project is the Forest Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Charter.

We launched the charter in June this year during a Forestry Sector Indaba.
This charter will go a long way in helping us redress past discrimination
experienced in this sector, and contribute to lifting people out of poverty.
The charter makes a number of commitments that will see the expansion of the
land under forests and supporting the industry to remain globally competitive.
In the next year our efforts will be focused on the implementation of the
charter.

3. Meeting the water and sanitation targets (and support to Local
Government).

Our most pressing targets are the eradication of bucket sanitation in the
formal established areas of our country by December 2007, and the supply of
water and sanitation to all clinics. Progress to meet these targets has been
proceeding very well and the clinics target will be met, while there will be a
small shortfall in the bucket eradication target. I have recently made
announcements in the press that by the end of December the overwhelming
majority of the buckets will be removed with the remaining 16 000 removed by
next year March. We have been running at full steam to achieve these two
targets and I am very pleased with the progress we have made.

Going forward we have the massive targets of achieving universal access to
water and sanitation. These targets will require a considerable amount of
energy over the next few years. The backlog that we need to address still
remains significant yet it is within our power to ensure that over the next few
years there is provision of basic services to all our people.

4. Water conservation and water demand management

All of us at DWAF understand the importance of water and how water
contributes to growth and development; yet there is still so much water being
wasted in our country. I was therefore very pleased that earlier this week we
launched the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management pilot project in
Mangaung, Free State; this project will see eight municipalities from around
the country implementing a number of measures to save water.

These measures include: a Waterwise Campaign to make people more aware of
the scarcity of water; technical interventions to repair leaks, replace the old
plumbing that uses too much water, and installing devices that can save water;
economic tools such as pricing and incentives; and bylaws on the use of water.
There are a number of other measures that we will implement at a national level
to promote water conservation and I am looking forward to this programme
picking up speed next year.

The Working for Water programme is an important part of our efforts to
increase the availability of water by removing invasive alien vegetation. This
programme has done remarkably well this year and Cabinet earlier this week
increased the budget allocation of Working for Water by R95 million over the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

5. The establishment of the National Water Resources Infrastructure
Agency

Progress has been made in this project and even though there have been
delays we should soon see the Agency being created. This agency will ensure the
better utilisation of Water Resource Infrastructure by having a dedicated
organisation that develops and maintains the vast network of dams, canals,
pipelines, pump stations and tunnels that currently resides with DWAF. The
creation of this agency is part of our efforts to improve our institutional
alignment. By drawing on the expertise of Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA)
and revenue stream of the Water Trading Account of the Department it will allow
for greater involvement of capital markets into the development of new water
infrastructure for the country.

The relevant Bill for the establishment of the Agency served before Cabinet
in August 2007, and the next step is to submit the Bill to Parliament for
consideration and passage thereof into legislation. We have recently appointed
a Project Manager for this mammoth project, Ms Nontutuzelo Majija, who will be
critical in driving the successful establishment of the Agency and
incorporation of the infrastructure branch and TCTA into the new institution. I
have no doubt that a lot of work will need to be done to ensure a smooth
transition into the Agency and during this process we need to make sure that
work does not stop and projects continue as planned while we go about bringing
two different ways of working into one institution.

6. Water quality management, as well as the management and maintenance of
this infrastructure

We have done well this year in rolling out the drinking water quality
monitoring programme as well as our efforts to work closely with municipalities
to ensure they have the capacity to deliver on their mandate. I remain
confident of the quality of drinking water across the country because of these
efforts and because of the systems in place. These systems are able to tell us
that compliance with our national standards has been very high, particularly in
the urban areas. With 2010 FIFA World Cup approaching and hundreds of thousands
of visitors coming to South Africa, we see our good drinking water quality as a
way of marketing South Africa. Of some concern to me is the quality of our raw
water and much more will need to be done in this area during the year
ahead.

7. Strategic engagement with other African countries on water and forestry
issues, in particular the relationships within our region. South Africa has
continued to make its voice heard in the international arena and continues to
receive recognition for our progressive laws and policies, and progress made in
ensuring access to water and sanitation. Our presence was felt at the Stockholm
World Water Week this year and in other significant international events.

Within Africa we have been actively involved in the African Ministers'
Council on Water (AMCOW), the African Network of Basin Organisations (ANBO),
and Southern African Development Community (SADC) Water Ministers meetings.

In support of New Partnership for Africa s Development (Nepad) we have been
working with the Katanga Province in the Department of Republic Congo (DRC), to
assist them with a number of water challenges they are facing. During the year
received a delegation from Katanga who underwent training, and next year we
look forward to increasing our support for them. On the forestry side we have
participated in a number of international fora, and next year we will be
co-hosting an international workshop on Forestry, Governance and
Decentralisation in Africa, which will be held in Durban in April 2008.

Conclusion

To conclude, I have provided progress on most of the flagship projects which
I announced last year, and from this update it is clear that we are doing very
well as a department. Through this focus I believe that DWAF is becoming a
great place to work. These flagship projects will continue as the issues they
address are ongoing. In addition, for the year ahead we will need to include:
2010 FIFA World Cup and Climate Change into our list of priority areas, as well
as our focus on Water for Growth and Development, which is broader in scope
than access to water and sanitation. We also need to start looking at the full
implementation of our legislation and deal with the gaps that remain.

There have been a number of highlights this year, which include:

a. Receiving the International Technical Excellence award for the Wolwedans
Dam from the President of the International Commission for Large Dams at recent
event in China.
b. The start of impounding water for the Berg River Dam.
c. The launch of the start of construction of the De Hoop Dam.
d. Progress made in respect of meeting the water and sanitation targets.
e. The launch of the programme to plant at least one million trees a
year.
f. The release for public comment on the Forestry Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE) Charter and the Forestry Indaba.
g. Hosting a major International Conference on integrated Catchment Management;
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)
HELP Symposium which took place in November 2007.
h. The continued impact being made in water conservation, job creation, and
fire prevention by the Working for Water, Working on Fire and Working for
Wetlands programmes.
i. The running of four successful focus weeks: Water Week, Sanitation Week,
Arbour Week, and Weedbuster Week.
j. The progress made in building a committed, motivated inspired and focused
management team and dedicated staff

There are also a number of successes which I have not mentioned; and there
are many other projects and programmes that we are working on as DWAF, which I
have not been able to cover. All these activities make an impact on the lives
of South Africans and whilst I have not mentioned them specifically today, you
know how critical the work that you do is for the country.

The impact that we are making as a department has again been recognised, and
for the second year running we won the Vuna Award This award which we received
on Tuesday is for our continued and exemplary support to local government.

Finally, I would like to thank all staff for the work that they have put in
during the past year and I am excited about what we will be able to achieve in
the New Year. I wish you all wonderful festive seasons and a Happy New Year.
May you please all travel safely on our roads; let us not drink and walk; and
let us not drink and drive; let us all arrive alive!

I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs Forestry
27 December 2007
Source: Department of Water Affairs Forestry (http://dwaf.gov.za)