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Monday 5 November
The theme for the first day of the conference
is: Water Governance in Context. Eiman Karar
Host and Conference Chair officially opened
the first plenary.
Barbara Schreiner, Chair of the Board of the
WRC provided the opening address.
“We cannot save the world as water
managers, researchers and specialists alone
we have to work out of the box, engage with
the other sectors, drive water into the centre
of the development debate and development
plans. Water is a critical component of the
development scenario in this country, and we
need to ensure that it is integrated into the
governance systems of the country as a whole,
the mind-set of all decision makers: we need
to place water at the centre of the
development agenda of the country.
Our governance systems need to support that
approach,” said Schreiner.
DAILYBULLETIN
The theme for the first day of the conference
Eiman Karar,
Host and Conference Chair officially opened
, Chair of the Board of the
WRC provided the opening address.
the world as water
managers, researchers and specialists alone –
we have to work out of the box, engage with
the other sectors, drive water into the centre
of the development debate and development
plans. Water is a critical component of the
enario in this country, and we
need to ensure that it is integrated into the
governance systems of the country as a whole,
set of all decision makers: we need
to place water at the centre of the
development agenda of the country.
s need to support that
Advocate Johnny de Lange
Portfolio Committee on Water and
Environmental Affairs provided the opening
address of the conference. He discussed the
four pillars of water governance being
political, social, economic and administrative
systems, with the final objective being the
development and management of water
resources and the delivery of water services.
He highlighted the issues relating to the
mining industry and the cost to the count
a result of the delays in the
process.
De Lange focused on how water governance
can contribute to what the National Water
Resources Strategy has termed
water management. This refers to water
management that contributes directly and
appropriately to the developmental
requirements of the country
development of water infrastructure, large
and small.
DAILY BULLETIN
Advocate Johnny de Lange, Chairperson of the
Portfolio Committee on Water and
Environmental Affairs provided the opening
address of the conference. He discussed the
four pillars of water governance being
political, social, economic and administrative
systems, with the final objective being the
development and management of water
resources and the delivery of water services.
He highlighted the issues relating to the
mining industry and the cost to the country as
the water use licensing
how water governance
can contribute to what the National Water
Resources Strategy has termed developmental
This refers to water
contributes directly and
appropriately to the developmental
requirements of the country, includes the
development of water infrastructure, large
Water Legislation and Public Sector accountability
This took the form of an interactive panel
discussion entitled: Why is South African water
law a difficult pill to swallow?
Olivia Rumble provided an overview on how
we implement rights in South Africa. Dr Jamie
Pittock acknowledged South Africa has
excellent water legislation, but its limited
implementation has been dismaying.
Barbara Schreiner pointed out that 15 years is
not a long time to implement something so
fundamentally different as the NWA. The
Water Services Act needs updating to align it
with contemporary institutions.
Markers of good governance
Mike Muller provided an insightful and
thought-provoking keynote presentation on
why the government should assume a leading
role in stakeholder management in the water
resources sector. Guy Pegram focused on
governance insights and lessons from the
establishment of CMAs in SA. The third
presentation reviewed the current status of
SA’s water resources management and what it
indicates on the overall national water
governance. The fourth presentation brought
to the fore governance lessons from irrigation
systems in Flag Boshelo area.
The final presentation provided a unique and
different perspective – looking at the use of
hope as a good indicator of good governance.
Prof. Ali Mazrui presented the keynote
address entitled: Water in a triple heritage
perspective: indigenous, islamic and western
legacies.
This focused on some of his earlier writings,
including his television contributions to the
British Broadcasting Corporation.
The problem of contaminated water in Africa
is part of the population explosion.
Precisely because many children are dying,
many more children are being born. Birth,
death and clean water are interlocked in the
demography of Africa. The two minimal
conditions for survival are hygiene and clean
water.
Oil and water have been adversarial liquids for
centuries. It is a common adage that water
and oil do not mix. In earlier centuries water
played a more energy-intensive role than oil.
Barack Obama has had policies to govern fossil
fuels but no comprehensive strategy
specifically about the utilization of water.
There had been Congressional legislation to
protect clean water for human consumption,
but no promotion of water as a source of
energy.
By the twenty-first century about a dozen
countries were recognized as part of the Nile
Basin, — either as beneficiaries of the Nile or
as contributors to the waters of the Nile.
Competition for the waters of the Nile have
intensified in the Nile Basin as associated
countries needed more irrigation and more
electricity.
Applicable Water Regulation for enhanced accountability
Martin Ginster provided an insight into putting
an end to what is “not a crime”: observations
on unlawful water abstraction in the Vaal River
System. He highlighted what is meant by
unlawful water abstraction. Determining the
usage is a complex issue and requires
communication between all parties to get it
right. Samantha Braid’s talk entitled: The need
to ensure accountability of water resource
regulators, focused on the enforcement side of
the water regulators. Some of the issues being
faced in this area is the there is too much
legislation which overlaps. Eustathia Bofilatos,
discussed effective institutional arrangements
for good water governance. The DWA has a
vision to develop policy and to regulate it with
the new institutional arrangements. Guy
Pegram’s talk on Governance considerations
for the development of collective action
initiatives by companies, highlighted how
companies in the private sector are reaching
the common understanding on risk associated
with water.
Promoting Water Integrity & Transparency in the SADC region
The session sought to explore the perceptions
on water integrity and accountability and the
entry points for addressing this is issue in
water management capacity development.
Some main themes that developed during the
course of the session included: The dilemma of
much needed decentralisation in water
management versus the integrity and
Multi-level water governance and adaptive management and the role of international prescription of water governance
Andrew Tanner spoke on the role of IWRM
strategies and plans as building blocks for
governance in the Incomati and Maputo
shared river basins. This highlighted the key
building blocks - Basic information is critical, it
must be shared, agreed and trusted. Trust and
mutual understanding of the national
objectives for socio-economic development
and challenges. Samantha Adey, Breede-
Overberg CMA (BOCMA) presented on the role
of water user associations (WUAs) in viable
decentralization for adaptive management:
lessons learned from the Breede Water
management area. The key questions are: Is
decentralisation effective; if not, how can it
become more effective? Kevin Rogers, spoke
on the topic: Re-thinking decision making
across the policy/action interface – choosing
your reality. Many factors affect the trajectory
and the “desired state” - Social, Technical,
Economic, Environmental and Political (STEEP)
values are high variable and/or uncertain.
Maud Orne-Gliemann, discussed the Water
user associations in South Africa. The speaker
suggested that we should decide whether a
WUA should be a state institution or a real co-
operative association. Barbara Tapela, spoke
on the topic of Water governance and
traditional leadership in South Africa. Efforts
to improve water governance in a rural
context must be based on a clear
understanding of the social complexities.
Inter-university water law debating exchange
Organised by the Young Water Professionals,
the debate comprised opposing view-points on
the accessibility efficiency, aims and objectives
of the water tribunal in terms of the National
Water Act.
This provided an insight into the role and
purpose of the Water Tribunal - an
independent administrative body established
under section 146 of the National Water Act
36 of 1998 (NWA) to hear appeals against
various specified decisions regarding water
issues.
accountability risks that in reality
decentralisation presents; The importance of
awareness and attitude change among water
users and ordinary citizens so as to sustain
integrity and accountability capacity
development.
It is important to distinguish between people
who for example use water illegally because
without that there would not be any other
form of access and those who willfully engage
in unethical practices for personal gain.
Business and Adaptive Water Governance
There is a role for business in good water
governance. However, the scale of governance
engagement in water is dependent on:
business culture, nature of risks and landscape
context. It is important for there to be a strong
regulatory body in place to ensure that
corporates engage effectively in adaptive
water governance.