CHAIRMAN’S message

Navigating change with #WISA2024

Just two weeks post general elections, South Africa is navigating changes at all levels of government. Let’s use the #WISA2024 Conference to create a compact that will guide the public and private sector to rebuild and create hope for water and sanitation. By Dan Naidoo, chairman, WISA

There have been positive movements since the #WISA2022 Conference with the realignment of water boards, release of the Drop Reports, water and sanitation summits, Regulation 3630, the establishment of the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency and the proposed amendments to the Water Services Act

While changes in political leadership are inevitable and at times welcome, it is important as an industry that we all speak from one page, have a clear voice and create a set of resolutions that can guide the public and private sector going forward.

The last thing we need are politicians that firstly reverse the positive strides made to address the current crisis, use already limited resources to reinvent the wheel and to think they can solve this crisis on their own. We need science and knowledge to guide all political decisions.

Committing to what is possible

As scientists, engineers, academics, professionals and industry leaders converge at the Durban ICC, we will be exposed to new research, innovation and ideas as well as some robust academic debate. This is essential for the growth of the sector. But it is also important to adopt a firm set of pragmatic and achievable resolutions that has a level of accountability attached to them. We need to combine future thinking with the current situation. We need to balance the technical with society’s needs, taking into account the risk we are facing.

Presently, water and sanitation is failing in many parts of the country and we need to develop a roadmap to fix these problems. The workshops and presentations at the #WISA2024 conference should assist us in coming up with a clear plan over the next two years. We need to put a peg in the ground for all water professionals where they can strategically and tactically work towards solving this crisis and support one another. This road map that is developed must be accessible to all citizens, companies and politicians.

There are pockets of excellence in the water and sanitation sector, but everybody is working in silos. We have the science; we have the knowledge and we have the expertise. Let’s use this conference to Turn the Tide on the bad situation we are all sitting in. The outcomes of this conference must (and will) ultimately add value to society. I am looking forward to being a part of this.