South Africa’s water challenges are vast, systemic and interconnected, and the sector is at a defining moment; however, there is a strong foundation to work from, participants in a Strategic Water Partners Network water stewardship working group meeting heard on Tuesday.

Discussing the sector, Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) intergovernmental relations, sector transformation and provincial governance chief director Petunia Ramunenyiwa outlined the importance of South Africa’s water sector. “Water is not simply a resource. It is the foundation of our public health system, our economy, our food production, our energy generation and our environmental sustainability. Without water security, there can be no economic security.”

However, significant pressures remain, including aging infrastructure in need of refurbishment and upgrading; high levels of nonrevenue water owing to leaks and system inefficiencies; financial and technical capacity constraints in parts of local government; water quality challenges in certain catchments; climate variability, including droughts and floods; and rising demand from urban growth, agriculture, mining, industry and various other sectors.

“These are not isolated issues. They are systematic and interconnected,” she commented.

Further, while raw water supply is currently in balance with existing demand on a national scale, there are localised deficits, caused by drought, high nonrevenue water and increased demand, as well as the delays in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II for Gauteng and the start of the uMkhomazi water project in eThekwini.

Water availability in South Africa could also deteriorate rapidly as supply contracts and demand escalates owing to economic growth, urbanisation and population growth, as well as inefficient use, particularly losses in municipal distribution systems, degradation of wetlands, sewage pollution and industrial pollution, and the impact of climate change.

“Water availability will deteriorate if we do not speed up and ensure that progress is realised and better investments are done. We need to improve on our planning, our procurement processes, and how, overall, the water resources are managed across different institutions.”

Despite all these challenges, South Africa has a strong foundation in terms of a robust legislative framework; clear national strategies and master planning instruments; skilled professionals across various sectors; and various active partnerships with water boards, municipalities, industry and civil society, Ramunenyiwa assured.

“It is upon us to see how we strengthen that,” she said, highlighting in a presentation that the “task ahead” is to strengthen performance, restore confidence and accelerate reform.

There is a need for infrastructure renewal and a new investment approach.

“Infrastructure remains our most urgent priority as a sector.”

Many bulk systems, treatment plants and distribution networks require refurbishment, and in many cases, deferred maintenance has increased the operational risk and reduced system reliability.

“Therefore, as a department, we are prioritising strategic infrastructure projects that improve water security in key economic corridors, the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing schemes and improved asset management planning, as well as strengthening oversight of municipal performance.”

In line with this is the establishment of the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency (NWRIA), which will result in the amalgamation of the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, the Water Trading Entity and the DWS infrastructure branch.

The establishment of the NWRIA will enable more finance to be raised on the market for national water resource infrastructure projects.

“We can have bankable projects, and some of those [can be developed under] blended finance.”

Various other programmes and initiatives are underway to support the water sector’s turnaround, including the amendment of the Water Services Act.

Further, the reform of the Metropolitan Trading Services Programme, which will place conditions on metropolitans receiving Trading Services Grants.

These conditions include municipalities developing and implementing water and sanitation turnaround plans and making progress with key performance indicators such as reducing nonrevenue water; ringfencing revenue from the sale of water; ringfencing of management functions; creating single-point accountability; and improving performance across a range of indicators.

“We also need to be broadening our water mix, diversifying in terms of sustainable groundwater, desalination, return flows, or reuse, from treated wastewater systems and the reuse of other poor quality water such as acid mine drainage.

Water conservation and demand management will be critical as supply-side measures, while necessary, will not be sufficient to avoid future water deficits. There is also a need to tackle water quality.

This all supports the involvement of the private sector.

“The scale of the investment required in the water sector is substantial and public funds alone will not meet the full demand. Innovative financing models, blended finance mechanisms and structured partnerships are critical,” Ramunenyiwa said.

The DWS is working to improve project preparation, strengthen financial governance, create an enabling environment for responsible private sector participation, and align infrastructure planning with long-term economic growth strategies.

“Water security cannot be delivered by government alone. Industry, agriculture, civil society and communities all have a role to play.”

Water stewardship must become embedded in corporate governance, operational planning and community engagement to ensure that all stakeholders prevent pollution, protect catchments, invest in efficiency, ensure responsible abstraction and collaborate in times of stress.

“We do acknowledge and are encouraged by the growing recognition within the private sector that water is becoming part of their business risk, and the alignment on creating opportunities for public private collaboration is growing tremendously.

“We are clear that a water sector that is reliable, efficient, transparent and resilient is the vision that we want, and we will not allow water insecurity to be a constraint in terms of our growing economy.”