WILLIAM MORAKA: MANAGER: WATER SERVICES

1. PORTFOLIO COMMITTEEROLE OF SALGA IN SERVICE DELIVERY TO MEET THE 2008 AND 2010 TARGETS 14 October 2005 WILLIAM MORAKA: MANAGER: WATER SERVICES

2. Purpose of this presentation • To highlight SALGAs Mandate • Comment on DWAF’s Annual Report • SALGA’s Contributions in the water services sector • Critical Municipal Needs • Recommendations

3. SALGAs ROLE • MANDATE: Representative Role: Represent the interests and positions of members & local government sector Lobby for & advocate outcomes sought by members Support and Advice Role: Define the needs of the members Provide support and & advise in terms of the needs Partner with government in driving the transformation programme Custodian of sharing experiences with LG

4. DWAF Annual Report 2005 • SALGA congratulates DWAF on the publication of its achievements • In particular DWAF has fulfilled a key function as sector leader • Collaboration has been critical to the achievements of the water sector for 2004/05 and DWAF has both advanced and facilitated sectoral collaboration • DWAF’s role in supporting MIG and supporting municipalities to achieve their water and sanitation targets is commendable • DWAF has set a standard for sector collaboration from which other sectors can learn a great deal

5. Implementation of the Strategic Framework for Water Services • SALGA has given input to the various strategies of the Strategic Framework for Water Services • SALGA continues to play a key role in supporting municipalities to achieve the targets set out in the SFWS • A major focus is to ensure that water and sanitation support is properly targeted to municipal needs as well as addressing the challenge of consolidation

6. SALGA’s Contribution-some points • In 2003, SALGA held Water Summits in all the provinces, culminating in a national water summit wherein DWAF participated • These information-dissemination campaigns are part of SALGA strategy to capacitate municipalities (with particular focus on decision-makers), but also to source out some kind of response from them on various policy initiatives by government • The 2003 SALGA driven summits led to the signing of the Water Summit declaration by both SALGA and DWAF

7. SALGA’s Contribution – Forging Partnerships • Policy Position on civil society • Building relations with SAAWU • SALGA is part of the Project Consolidate National Advisory Committee and assisted in conceptualising certain programme elements • Provincial Offices are members of the Project Consolidate Steering Committee • Northern Cape O&M with Swedish International Development Agency and DWAF

8. SALGA’s Contribution – some points • Participated in the all provincial water summits and have been part of the developing provincial water sector action plan • Requested DWAF to second staff in the transfer programme where staff related matters have not yet been finalised (MOA) • Co-hosted the National Section 78 Lesson Learning Conference as an active partner in the National Joint Response Team • Provided input to the development of the various strategies of the Strategic Framework for Water Services (NIRS,RS) • Co-sponsored and participated in the organisation of the International Conference on Regulation held Feb 2005

9. Participation on Joint Committees • SALGA has played a key role in implementing the objectives of the Strategic Framework for Water Services through participation on various committees: • IDTC • National and Provincial Joint Response Teams for Section 78, Transfer and Institutional Reform • Consulting committee of the Water Services Sector Support Strategy • Municipal Infrastructure Technical Task Team • Project PMU (streamlining Registration of projects)

10. SALGA’s contribution in promoting municipal perspectives • SALGA has played a critical and decisive role in collaborative initiatives • Ensured common positions through consultative processes with municipalities articulating their needs • Established municipal water services networks, lesson learning and sharing of good municipal practice • Raised local government issues on the national water services agenda • Facilitated municipalities playing an active role in policy and strategy development, and ensured informed decision making • Facilitated support of weaker municipalities by stronger municipalities (I.e. those with more capacity) • Played a key role representing municipalities in sector driven support as well as participating in the support • Initiated benchmarking for comparative performance

11. Sanitation • To assist decision making wrt to sanitation, SALGA is developing a municipal sanitation decision tool aimed at council decision makers around sanitation technologies • The tool guides municipalities to consider resources available, geographic conditions, the socio-economic conditions, and the O+M implications before arriving at a particular technology choice • The sanitation package has been introduced at Amatole and needs to be piloted further • SALGA will embark on an aggressive strategy to popularize the tool especially after the elections with new councillors coming in • The aim is not to lose the service delivery momentum completely when you have new councillors heading the different portfolios

12. Sanitation • Sanitation remains the biggest challenge in water services delivery • Sanitation has always lagged behind because as a country the focus had been on delivery of water to the people and only a few years back some attention was paid to sanitation • Whilst municipalities are addressing sanitation at household level, special attention must be paid to sanitation in farms, informal settlements and on bucket eradication • It was a victory for SALGA when Minister Sonjica announced that some areas with buckets warrant waterborne sanitation as an appropriate service level • The former DWAF subsidy did not help much towards bucket eradication where waterborne borne was being sought as an alternative

13. Critical Issues • There are a number of critical issues that warrant mention at this time: • Transfer (Funding and Rehabilitation) • Municipal capacity • Water services provider support • Achieving water and sanitation targets • Consolidation of support which is targeted to real needs

14. Transfer • Subsidy Breakout • Skills Profile of current staff • Rehabilitation of the schemes • DWAF Schemes to be transferred comply with water quality standards • Short fall in the rehabilitation funding • After Transfer Care

15. Municipal Capacity • Municipal capacity remains a challenge for many municipalities • We need to bear in mind the pressures on local government to both extend services and ensure sustainable service delivery • This requires sustainable institutions that have adequate human resources, skills and expertise, as well as the necessary systems in place • SALGA would like to emphasise the important role that DWAF has played in building institutional capacity for water services – this role needs to continue • Particularly challenging is building provision capacity

16. Water Services Provider Support • Much support has been given to supporting the water services authority function. • In this regard DWAF has initiated and lead excellent support programmes, such as WSPD support, section 78 support, MIG support, institutional support, support to putting policies and bylaws in place and so forth • The most pressing need NOW is to support the service provision function – ensuring good operations and maintenance, water quality management, revenue collection, WSP business planning, asset management, and customer relations • We need a very clear support strategy for water services providers

17. Water Services Provider Support a New Challenge • WSP support requires a new approach • We need to see the impact of strong Water Services Providers in our monitoring systems, for example: • % municipalities that supply water which consistently meets the defined minimum standards for potable water as defined in SABS 241 (minimum standard for water quality) • % municipalities where consumers do not experience interruptions of more than 48 hours at any one time • % municipalities where consumers are supplied with free basic water services • % municipalities where at least 80% of water supplied is metered, and so on • These types of measures will tell us how well our Water Services Providers are doing

18. Water Services Provider Support a New Challenge • WSP support requires a new approach to what was used to build WSA capacity • The provision function is about managing a water services business where we provide services to our communities – services that meet their needs • The provision function has to be sustainable – it requires ongoing business planning; measures to ensure compliance with standards; mechanisms for customer satisfaction; plans for improvement, and it has to be financially viable • Experience in running good water services providers lies within some municipalities and water boards – how do we harness this experience into our support initiatives?

19. Driving the approach to supporting Water Services Providers • There is currently a gap in support provided – it does not extend sufficiently to water services providers • Municipalities that are WSPs are best placed to determine the nature and targets of WSP support • Municipalities with expertise and experience in the WSP functions need to shape the WSP Support Strategy • SALGA therefore intends playing a leading role in driving the support approach for WSP • Towards determining the support approach, SALGA will host and facilitate municipal focus groups comprising various WSAs with experience in the provision function • The objective of these groups is to help shape the WSP Support Strategy and roles and responsibilities therein

20. Achieving the water and sanitation targets • It is no secret that questions have been raised about the feasibility of achieving the water and sanitation targets for 2008 and 2010 respectively • These targets are not only the responsibility of local government, but the responsibility of the entire sector • We need realistic plans for each municipality to determine what can or cannot be achieved within the target timeframes • Political decisions are needed in terms of those municipalities that will not be able to meet the targets within existing conditions (municipal capacity, water services challenges, current resources, etc.) • Will the targets be changed or will national and provincial government be coming forward with contingency plans? If so what are the proposed plans. This is a very serious issue.

21. Recommendations • Transfers (need to focus on interim arrangements) • Sector departments have an important role to play in supporting municipalities to build institutional capacity. The experience of WSA Support should be shared with other sector departments • Water services provider support requires a major focus and resources to implement a support strategy. Riots in the streets, deaths in Delmas are a result of inadequate water services provider capacity! • Decisions need to be made on a municipality by municipality basis in terms of the targets – municipalities need to know national government’s position where there are real constraints to achieving the targets • Plans for consolidation of provincial water sector support and for funding institutional and capacity building support for municipal water services need to be addressed

22. Thank You