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.