Chair’s comment

WATER IS SCARCE,

but so is funding

The water industry has an abundance of technology, skill and drive. But its trajectory is minimal. And the reason for this is a lack of economic investment and leadership. By Dan Naidoo, chairman, WISA

We do not have the funding to invest in infrastructure. And investing in water infrastructure, management and sanitation services is absolutely essential for the eradication of poverty and enabling sustained economic growth. Will we reach Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030? It is not very likely.

Debt

The big elephant in the room is municipal debt, which is increasing daily. The debt issue must be resolved. Water is fundamentally financed by tariffs.

In South Africa, we are lucky that each sphere of government – national, provincial and local – is entitled to an equitable share of revenue raised nationally to facilitate the provision of basic services. But this is purely for people who cannot afford these services – people who are indigent or economically inactive. The rest of us are expected to pay for basic services, and this ‘paying base’ is dropping significantly.

South Africa’s unemployment rate is now the highest in the world. The unemployment rate, which includes people who have stopped looking for work, rose to 44.4% in the second quarter. This means that even fewer people can pay for water services. How is the equitable share matched to this unemployment statistic?

Government is forced to borrow money very expensively and can, therefore, only fund projects that are in critical need. Important projects are pushed to the back (until they too become critical) and, every time that this happens, the risk of a catastrophic failure increases.

Compounding this issue is the alarming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warns of progressively extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding. This means that the water sector will increasingly have to compete with funding that is to be directed towards saving people’s lives and managing disasters.

We need leadership

Poor and ineffective leadership has a dire effect on service delivery. This has caused a lack of trust in leaders within the public sphere. The City of Cape Town has transitioned from nearly running out of water to being one of the best performing cities in the world with regard to reducing water losses and demand. This fundamental shift occurred when there was a leadership change.

Initially, politicians were taking the lead in directing technical committees. After a while, a water demand management department was created and there was a more focused technical direction. The water crisis can only be tackled successfully from a scientific basis.

Leadership requires transparency (which then earns trust). The City of Cape Town published all data regarding ‘Day Zero’ on a daily basis. They did not hide any facts. They published water statistics continuously, and this prompted Capetonians to change their behaviour and reduce water demand. Day Zero would never have been averted without a change in behaviour.

With transparent leadership, similar to that shown by the City of Cape Town as they approached Day Zero, South Africa has a chance to overcome our water crisis. We have the innovation, will and skills.