In the face of the department of water and sanitation’s failure to properly manage the country’s water resources, two civil society organisations have teamed up to have an independent regulator for water established.
Read: The Guptas, Steinhoff and the Cape Town water crisis After that they envisage a legislative process to establish the independent water regulator, akin to the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) Act for regulating electricity.
The pollution of the Vaal River by untreated sewage discharge is well documented and is currently being investigated by the Human Rights Commission.
Water pricing is unregulated and often fails to bear any relation to the cost structures.
Read: After Cape Town, more African cities face water crisis Notla says an independent regulator would be in a position to remove politics from water management and address these gaps.
Investment needed According to WSSA CEO Benoit Le Roy, South Africa needs R1 trillion of investment in water infrastructure.
Private sector investors are however unwilling to put their money in an industry where regulatory and policy uncertainty is rampant and pricing unpredictable.
In fact, 63% of the country’s water is used for food production.
Outa and WSSA say the funding of the regulator will be determined at a later stage, but it could be through a small levy and topped up by the fiscus.
The steering committee is led by Ntola and Le Roy, with the additional members being Professor Anthony Turton from the University of the Free State Centre for Environmental Management, specialist water consultant and engineer Helgard Muller and mine water specialist William Pulles.