South Africa’s water sector investment needs to be matched by investment in skills and professionalisation – both within the water sector and among its external support partners, says Water Institute of Southern Africa (Wisa) CEO Dr Lester Goldman.

While the institute lauded the raising of $10-billion in critical investment commitments at the inaugural African Union-AIP Water Investment Summit 2025, Goldman warns that without the right skills and sufficient capacity, it is an “exercise in futility”.

The shared commitment to the people of South Africa to continuously provide clean, reliable and safe water must be supported by adequate capacity and skilled professionals.

“Capacity speaks of the right mix of people, processes and policies within organisations responsible for water, but skills are about the people themselves possessing standards-based talent to perform their duties effectively,” says Goldman.

Ample skills are required in three main categories – leadership, management across various departments and technical skills within the water department itself – with each being equally important and forming part of an interdependent chain.

“Leaders in the water sector are not necessarily water experts. They are counsellors, decision-makers, finance managers and other managers in support departments outside the technical water department. So, they depend on the expertise of technical professionals.”

He further discusses Regulation 3630, which was gazetted on June 3, 2023, and promises to enhance accountability, transparency and performance within the water sector – something many process controllers have long called for.

“They are finally being acknowledged as professionals, like engineers and scientists in the industry already are.”

The regulation requires that water services works be supervised by a process controller with at least Class V certification.

“Professionals of this class and above must register with Wisa, meet its membership standards and pursue continuous professional development as required. Lower classes must also undergo continued education independently.”

However, there is significant resistance to the regulation, he says, noting that most process controllers work in municipalities and, while they had until July 1, 2025, to register, many have not complied, owing to a combination of lack of awareness, unnecessary budgetary resistance and individual reluctance.

“Councillors, municipal managers, politicians and others in charge do not want to spend money, although the cost of training is comparatively low. Individuals may fear that they do not meet the standard or may not be able to maintain it going forward.

“These concerns are unnecessary – you spend less maintaining skills than maintaining broken infrastructure and processes, and professionalisation is not an obstacle but a career enhancer,” Goldman explains.

The Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Drop and Green Drop reports also draw a direct correlation between a municipality’s performance and capacity.