Programme director
Acting director-general
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed a great pleasure and privilege for me to extend to you, one and all, hearty greetings and a warm welcome to our workshop. We are convening this workshop in the main to review the department’s first quarterly performance. We need to answer the question; are we still on course? It is instructive to note that we are convening this workshop under the sharp spotlight and acute scrutiny of service delivery in the land. We are not exempt from the spotlight as amply shown in the few rounds of provincial water summits that we managed to convene thus far, in response to the challenges confronting water resources management and provision in our country with insufficient water.
We are gathered here today to assess whether our machinery is oiled sufficiently to live up to the promise we had made to our people that together, we will do more to change their lives for the better. We need to assess whether the foundation has been laid so that we can confidently say “we are on course”. My input will seek to contribute constructively on whether we are indeed on course to implement together that which we have agreed upon, when we gave account to Parliament.
Lest we forget, it is worth repeating for emphatic purposes that our performance should contribute towards the realisation of our government’s five priorities, namely:
* the creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods
* health
* education
* fighting crime
* rural development including land reform, food production and security
Programme director; allow me to reiterate my foreword at the department’s strategic plan document. In his inaugural address as the fourth President of the Republic, President Zuma made a commitment to all South Africans that; “for as long as there are communities without clean water, decent shelter and proper sanitation, we shall not rest, and we dare not falter”.
When we tabled the 2009 to 2014 strategic plan, we also reiterate the resounding message that the work of government in partnership with all stakeholders can never be complete until the last person in the remotest village has access to drinkable water. Our work will not be complete until we assure the citizens of our country that there will be sufficient water for economic growth and social development until 2030.
Our mandate for the next five years derives from the policies of the ruling party, the African National Congress and therefore at this level, an appreciation and common understanding needs to be instilled that our policies must be underpinned by the policy imperatives of the ruling party. I have observed at the executive committee that not sufficient strategic debate, especially on policies, occurs in the execution of policy decisions.
What informs some of our decisions remains a mystery. We tend to focus mainly on technical and administrative methods in the execution of our tasks. The paucity of debate pertaining to issues of women empowerment, youth and people with disability development programmes or initiatives is worrisome. These issues are not nice to have but are policy imperatives that warrant operational programmes.
The clarion call, ‘working together we can do more to fight poverty and build a better life for all’, must form the bedrock of our approach to service delivery. It is on that basis that we took a decision to convene provincial water summits to ensure that all relevant stakeholders, namely, the provincial and local spheres of government and other sister departments are brought on board with regards to our attempts to finding long lasting solutions aimed at averting the looming water crisis in the country. Our approach has to cover the whole spectrum of the water situation, extending to water planning, redress of anomalies in water distribution inclusive of instances where people reside adjacent to water sources and yet have no access to these, budget, staffing and skills development, water boards and our own capacity to exercise oversight over them, etc.
We need to inject urgency and life into our flagship programme, the water for growth and development framework which aims to set in motion an intensive programme to ensure that there is sufficient water, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, to support South Africa’s path of growth and development. Of course, at a high level, the framework seeks to influence attitudinal changes and behaviours on the value and use of our water resources. In the course of implementing the water for growth and development framework we have decided to establish provincial water committees that will include all stakeholders. We are also proposing that all provinces have provincial water plans.
It is also imperative that the issues of water losses and water demand management, illegal water use and enforcement of policy against water polluters should find priority in our operations .Our interventions has to include the need to diversify the water mix, striking a balance between supply and demand, mainstreaming water and addressing service backlog. Our challenges are not insurmountable and a great deal of work still lies ahead for us to tap into the collective wisdom and synergy of other stakeholders in the sector.
As we discharge our responsibilities in the line of duty, we should ever remain mindful of the fact that the provision of water is a basic service essential for the sustenance of life. Needless to mention, access to water is also central to the economic development of our country. The people of South Africa through the present government have entrusted us with a budget allocation in excess of R7 billion. We have a commensurate obligation and responsibility of exercising good stewardship over our budget allocation. Our starting and end point is zero tolerance towards indolence and corruption in our quest for improved service and a better life for our people. As patriots, managers and leaders in our own right, the standing and good image of our department is our preserve to protect, enhance and advance.
The state of the maintenance of infrastructure is of concern to me. It is a ticking bomb. We need to review and interrogate the role of the three structures of government in financing and maintaining such infrastructure in line with the relevant functions. Two critical questions that need attention are the following:
* What happens to the municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) that is received for this function; how is this expended properly by local government?
* What is the role of provincial government to ensure there is sufficient capacity at local government to deliver on that mandate including expending the MIG?
It is equally important to respect and reciprocate the trust bestowed upon us by ensuring that not a single cent of our allocation is subjected to mismanagement and maladministration. Not a single cent of our allocation should find its way into our pockets or serve to enrich our friends or relatives through unscrupulous means. Allow me, programme director, to reiterate what I said at the inaugural Department of Water and Environmental Affairs break-away session on 20 June 2009. Managers must manage and lead by example. We all have a responsibility to cultivate a team or collective spirit in the department. We must maintain discipline and inculcate a winning culture. The implementation of our programmes must be characterised by efficiency and professionalism.
I must also repeat for emphatic purposes what I have raised at the executive committee. Government is wary and will not countenance any sloppy administration. Cabinet has been forthright in exhorting departments to review their spending plans to ensure efficient and effective use of the limited resources in the context of the economic meltdown. Managers must refrain from relying on consultants for the work we are paid to perform. In the same breath, we must desist from delaying payments for goods and services rendered by our suppliers, in particular small medium and macro enterprises (SMMEs), as such malpractices drag them into bankruptcies. Let us pay within the targeted timeframes. The monitoring and evaluation of our performance contracts must highlight our commitment to a responsive, efficient and effective Batho Pele driven public service.
On a positive note, I have been reliably informed that the department received commendable feedback from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the presentations of our finance and corporate services branches recently. This is a very pleasing development as it portends to place us firmly on a pedestal free of audit queries and adverse financial qualifications. Keep up the good work and don’t take your foot from the pedal of improved service as our people deserve no less.
Programme director, it is becoming crystal clear that access to water in some parts of the country has reached crisis proportions. As a sector leader, our role has to be defined appropriately or redefined to dispel the notion that exempt other stakeholders from discharging their responsibilities as stipulated by our Constitution, for example, local government that have attained the status of being water service authorities.
The provincial water summits that we have held thus far, clearly point to a need to reinforce and strengthen policy. Equally, where we have taken decisions, our regions must implement those decisions without delay and not allow situations to reopen further discussions with stakeholders. We must continue to exercise leadership at all times.
The machinery of the Department of Water Affairs as one component of the Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs is the management that we have here today. It is you that I expect to lead this department united in your quest to give hope to our people in the sphere of water provision. Of course we must ensure that we have the requisite budget to enable us to implement our decisions. Our priorities are the implementation of our policies, flexibility towards emergency situation, capacitating our staff and the ministry with the requisite tools for the trade. I need hardly belabour the point that we have to spend the money allocated to us and to account for it accordingly.
Programme director, our obligation as an organisation are not merely confined within the borders of our motherland, we are shortly going to assume the Presidency of African Ministerial Conference on Water (AMCOW). The continent of Africa looks up to us for leadership and the expectations out there are very high.
Over and above that, we have the singular responsibility of hosting the prestigious Africa Water Week on 9 to 13 November 2009 on our shores. It is beyond dispute that a dedicated core staff or unit has to be established with adequate funding to assist us in charting our engagement in exercising leadership at AMCOW Also as the Ministry of Environment we have to take seriously the matter of the effects of climate change on access to water. We therefore have to have strategies that will look into this matter.
In conclusion, we all have to embrace Batho Pele and spare neither courage nor effort in the delivery of services to the people of South Africa, particularly, the poorest of the poor. We also have to recognise that such a responsibility, however daunting, is easily realizable through working together and by ensuring that we have a motivated work. Members of staff remain an asset that we should appreciate and nurture, at all times.
I thank you
Issued by: Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs
27 August 2009
