Enhancing Inkomati Catchment Management Agency: 2009/10 Annual Report

1. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY The 2009 / 10 Annual Report for the Inkomati Catchment Management Agency Presentation to Portfolio Committee 02 June 2010 Chairperson: Patience Nyakane-Maluka Acting CEO: Brian Jackson

2. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Contents • Governing Board Performance and Challenges • Strategic Adaptive Management and Adaptive Planning • Strategic Objectives • Financials • Institutional Performance: • Co-operative Governance • Catchment Management Strategy • Integrated Planning and Operations of River Systems • Pollution Control • Stakeholder Participation • Finance • Corporate • Institutional Challenges

3. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Governing Board Performance • All legislative reporting requirements such as the Strategic Plan, Operational Plan, annual and quarterly financial and performance reporting were complied with. • An Unqualified Audit Opinion was obtained. • The following committees were in operation during the 2009/10 financial year: • Executive Committee: Considered 52 reports • Water Committee: Considered 28 reports • Audit Committee: considered 41 reports • A total of 28 Board, Committee, special and stakeholder meetings were held • Governing Board Charter, Delegation of Powers and Functions by the Governing Board, Audit Committee Charter and Terms of Reference for both the Executive and Water Committees of the Governing Board were revised during the year. • Reviewed and adopted 20 policy documents • Created a corporate Governance division in the institution to ensure that the Governing Board and its committees function effectively by providing secretarial functions as well as strategic guidance and support to the Governing Board on matters of law, business ethics, good governance, fiduciary duties etc. • A register of Governing Board resolutions was developed and is constantly updated to assist in tracking the performance of the institution

4. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Governing Board Challenges • There are two vacancies in the Board, which have not been replaced. • A new governing Board was due to be appointed by the minister in the financial year, and no vacancies have thus been replaced. This is overdue. • The CEO post is vacant due to the resignation of the incumbent and cannot be replaced due to the pending renewal of the governing board and instruction from DWA that the new governing board must appoint the new CEO.

5. The ICMA adopted an Adaptive Planning Process - following the Strategic Adaptive Management methodology currently widely accepted in resource management circles - for the development of its 2009-10 Business Plan. • Strategic Adaptive Management was first developed during the Kruger National Park Rivers Research Program as a tool for river management at the catchment level (Rogers and Bestbier 1997), before it became honed as a tool for participatory management of protected areas, especially our National Parks (Biggs and Rogers 2003). SAM was then further refined to serve the management of complex social-ecological systems (Rogers and Sherwill 2008), which of course includes catchments. SAM is therefore a very valuable tool for structuring the interdisciplinary knowledge partnerships needed to facilitate IWRM within a complex social-ecological systems. • This process resulted in revised Strategic Objectives for the ICMA that were included in the Business Plan and annual report. These are: The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Strategic Adaptive Management and Adaptive Planning

6. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Strategic Objectives in Business Plan • Adaptively develop/implement participative systems for authorisation, compliance, monitoring and enforcement that aim to balance resource use and protection in ways that ensure reform and promote socio-economic development. • Adaptively stimulate/develop/implement co-operative governance that promotes co-ordination of river operating systems, spatial planning and development to protect the resource and catchment. • Set and pursue the agenda for international negotiations that reflect local conditions/needs. • Become an internationally recognised hub for participative IWRM by adaptively coordinating, generating and distributing data, knowledge, skills and management systems. • The Strategic Objectives also speak to those of DWA. • The Adaptive Planning Process also developed Values, attributes, Threats, constraints and the context for the ICMA. These are all indicated in the annual report

7. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Institutional Performance • All legislative reporting requirements such as the Strategic Plan, Operational Plan. annual and quarterly financial and performance reporting were complied with. • The ICMA made large strides in positioning itself as a central advisory player on development planning initiatives within the Inkomati Water Management Area and played an active role in establishing and advising many forums, projects and programmes. These included: Co-operative Governance

8. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Institutional Performance

9. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY

10. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Catchment Management Strategy • The draft First Generation Catchment Management Strategy was completed and submitted to DWA at the end of the Financial year. • The finalisation of the CMS was handled internally with the assistance of officials from the Department of Water Affairs. This was done through a detailed workplan developed by the ICMA, assisted by a small contract with the University of Witwatersrand. • Stakeholders were given the opportunity to share their understanding of the current and desired status of water resources, from which a vision was articulated and strategic action programmes were developed ensuring that the water resources will be managed with an objective of achieving that vision in the medium to long term.

11. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY • The CMS must still be gazetted to allow further public comment before it can be promulgated. • The Adaptive Planning Process followed by the ICMA Prioritised the implementation of the Crocodile River Real Time Operating Rules. • Agreement was obtained with DWA for the ICMA to implement these rules and take over the operation of the Decision support system developed by DWA • The Inkomati CMA thus established and facilitates the Crocodile Catchment Operations Committee (CROCOC), to ensure effective communication and consensual decision making with our stakeholders regarding the operating rules. • The ICMA has also assisted DWA in developing the terms of reference for the Sabie River Operating Rules project. • This Function is assigned to the ICMA, but was performed by the Regional Office during the financial year as the staff to perform the function had not yet been transferred to the ICMA. Integrated Planning and Operation of River Systems Pollution Control

12. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Stakeholder Participation • The ICMA compiled a database of all stakeholders classified according to water related activities in the catchment management area. • Agreement was reached with DWA that any Stakeholder engagement in the Inkomati must be coordinated through the ICMA. • An unqualified Audit was obtained • Fully compliant with PFMA and Treasury Regulations • The Department approved a budget of R20 958 313 for the Inkomati CMA, but only R17 million was transferred to the institution’s bank account during the financial year. Of this R 9 958 313 was only received in the last quarter of the financial year. • The unreliability and late transfer of much of these funds made it difficult for the ICMA to implement its operational plan, resulting in many planned projects being delayed during the year. At certain instances salaries were paid late which gave rise to staff grievances. The Inkomati CMA also incurred penalties and interest from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) due to late payment of taxes. • A number of posts planned to be filled could not be advertised as a result of the poor cash flow. Finance

13. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Finances Continued • Budget approved: R20 958 313 • Expenditure: R13 526 320 • Unspent funds: R7 432 083 • An agreement was reached with DWA Mpumalanga to use the unspent funds on projects commencing in the new financial year to assist them. • Assets consists of : • Capital expenditure consists only of Office furniture and Equipment : R594 213 • Debtors were the DWA grants not received at year-end • Positive bank balance of R4 230 296 at year end • Net Assets & Liabilities consists of: • Accumulated surplus of R6 105 480 off setting previous accumulated deficits • Accounts payable - due to late funds transfer • Finance lease obligations – office machines

14. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Finances Continued • The Governing Board Members Stipends were calculated on the following rates per meeting per day/event including preparation: • Chairperson R 4,000 • Deputy Chairperson R 3,750 • Ordinary Members R 3,500 • A total of R642 750 was paid to Board members in the year • The External Members of the Audit Committee stipends were calculated on the following rates per meeting per day/event including preparation: • Chairperson R 4,622 • Ordinary Members R 2,806 • A total of R37 635 was paid to Audit Committee members in the year • Executive Managements remuneration: • CEO – acting allowances R102,030 • Water Use R796,906 • WRP&P R764,252 • Institutions & ParticipationR765,114 All these managers are • Corporate & Finance R769,072 remunerated at level 13

15. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Finances Continued • Remuneration of other staff compliment of the ICMA: • 4 x level 12 employees • 3 x level 11 employees • 1 x level 10 employee • 8 x level 9 employees • 1 x level 8 employee • 2 x level 7 employees • 1 x level 6 employee • 1 x level 4 employee • 1 x level 3 employee • 1 x level 2 employee

16. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Corporate • Achievements in Corporate include: • A recognition agreement with labour union (NEHAWU) during the period under review was finalised. • Accurate recording of supplier’s accounts • Adoption and implementation of an Effective procurement management system • Efficient and accurate payroll management • Risk Management. A risk assessment and risk register was drawn up and updated on a quarterly basis • Job Evaluations for all positions on the organogramme were finalised using the DPSA system. • Skills Development. The ICMA granted bursaries to eight disadvantaged students to pursue studies in the fields of Engineering, Water Resource Management, Finance and Information Technology. As a result of this a student with a BSC in microbiology was appointed at the ICMA and a student with a BSc (hons) in hydrology was also appointed. • Development and review of human resources policies. A number of policies were reviewed to ensure smooth transfer of staff from DWA

17. The 2009 - 10 Inkomati Annual Report INKOMATI CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCY Institutional Challenges • Delegation of functions from DWA were not finalised as agreed in the MOU. These were finalised in December 2010 and the ICMA 2011/12 Strategic Plan incorporates outputs to commence implementation of the delegations. • Transfer of staff from DWA could not be finalised due to the functions not being delegated. The staff to be transferred have now been identified and the process to transfer has commenced. • Resignation of CEO, which could not be replaced due to delays in finalising the new governing board for the ICMA by DWA. A new governing Board and CEO has still not been appointed. • The Catchment Management Strategy must still be approved for gazetting for public comments by the Minister. • Financial sustainability and water tariffs: DWA is still collecting revenue and developing the tariffs for the CMA’s. This implies that the ICMA is reliant on funding transfers from DWA. The funds were not timeously transferred to the CMA, severely affecting the implementation of our Business plan. • The ICMA suffered a fairly high staff turnover due to the lack of progress on our business plan