South Africa needs an independent water and sanitation regulator to drive accountability, attract investment and improve service delivery in South Africa, as success stories in other countries have shown, the Association of Water and Sanitation Institutions of South Africa (Awsisa) said.

An independent regulator would act as a central watchdog, ensuring tariffs are fair, infrastructure is maintained and all service providers, both public and private, meet agreed-upon standards.

It would also provide consumers with a place to report grievances and allow service providers to operate in a stable, transparent framework that promotes investment and innovation, the association continued.

Internationally, countries such as Zambia with the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council, and Portugal with Portugal Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority have shown that independent water regulators can drive accountability, attract investment and improve service delivery.

The UK’s Office of Water Services, also known as Water Services Regulation Authority, provides a globally recognised model for regulating tariffs, standards and performance.

These institutions have one thing in common: their independence.

South Africa already has working models of regulatory excellence, such as the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, which ensures fair pricing and licensing in the telecommunications sector and the National Nuclear Regulator, which oversees the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation and ensures strict compliance in a technically complex and politically sensitive industry.

Water service providers operate in an environment where oversight is fragmented and standards are inconsistently enforced.

As South Africa’s water and sanitation systems face collapsing infrastructure, weak governance and financial mismanagement, with over R28-billion owed by municipalities to water boards and nonrevenue water exceeding 40% in many areas, the time has come for South Africa to establish a strong, independent water and sanitation regulator.

Earlier this year, the Presidential Water and Sanitation Indaba supported the formation of a water regulator as part of South Africa's long-term solution to governance and service delivery failures.

“Awsisa echoes this call. We urge the Department of Water and Sanitation, the National Treasury and Parliament of the Republic of South Africa to fast-track the policy and legal steps necessary to establish this body.

“Water is too important to be managed through ad hoc oversight and political interference. It requires technical consistency, financial sustainability and public trust,” the association concluded.