WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER

The Water Utility Corporation based in Botswana, the bosom of Africa, have a major undertaking ahead of them. Four years ago in 2009 a take-over was announced that has created waves of change that they have worked hard to lead.

FROM THE Source

Quote

The centralisation of the

water sector in Botswana

under the Water

Utilities Corporation (WUC) has

already made some noticeable

differences to the capacity of

the country’s water supply, a

trend that is set to continue, said

Nginani Mbayi, Deputy Chief

Executive Officer for Operations

and Water Resources.

“Our mandate is to ensure

that clean, potable water flows

to all areas in the country

including rural sectors. In

2009 this expanded to include

supply of potable water and the

provision of wastewater services

in areas previously catered for

by Department of Water Affairs,”

said Mbayi. “Further to this it is

our task to operate and maintain

dams and other water resources

such as well fields and also

improve infrastructure.”

Improving Botswana’s

supply of drinkable water is of

paramount importance for the

continued welfare of the country

and the people. In 2009, the state

of water was given providence

by the Botswanan Government

following a National Water

Master Plan Review and this

sets an example of the role WUC

plays.

“At the base level people

need drinking water to live and

reserves for sanitation,” says

Mbayi, “We are improving the life

of the people in Botswana, and

are grateful that the Government

has given this a major priority.”

The Water Sector Reform

which has given new controls

of the water sector to the

WUC were first suggested

in 2005-2006 when the

National Water Master Plan

Review recommended a major

restructuring of the fractured

system. The Implementation of

the recommendations started in

2009 on a five year programme.

Since 2009, WUC has been

pressing ahead with the Water

Sector Reform that was first

planned in 2005, targeted to

be completed in 2014: “We are

well ahead of our programme,”

says Mbayi. “However, that does

not mean we should ignore or

be complacent about particular

challenges.”

WUC

Their intention is a simple one: provide clean and accessible water for the country. The programme, predicted to take five years and incorporating 540 villages was broken down into 6 phases and is a year ahead of its target, already in its last phase in April 2013.

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With a wide cultural and fiscal selection in the country, some areas

are slower on the development than others an approach of patience

and logic is needed, “Whilst villages have been taken over “as-is” in

terms of infrastructure, there are a number of emergency projects

that aim at improving operational efficiency and reduce water losses.

These are areas which mostly have been operating manually, have

serious water losses and inadequate infrastructure capacity in the

short to medium term.”

Capital projects including pipelines and treatment plants take up

most of the WUC budget. Drinking water and quality waste water

(for sanitation) that is easily and regularly available is the primary

concern and influences all of their decisions. The expansion of water

and wastewater reticulation network to meet the development needs

and the integrity of customer data in areas taken over under the

Water Sector Reforms has been a major challenge to WUC. However,

it all boils down to the financial viability and availability to complete

these projects and measures have to be put in place to ensure it is all

functioning smoothly.

“Achieving objectives for the Water Sector Reforms is crucial, we

are also responsible with achieving a good financial performance and

to this we have introduced fair tariffs,” says Mbayi.

A parastatal body enacted by an Act of Parliament in 1970, The

Corporation itself has roots dating further back into Botswanan

history, with an original mandate to manage the supply and

distribution of water in the Shashe Development Area. Eventually this

was expanded upon to include water supply and distribution to urban

and industrial areas and later on bulk water supply to urban villages.

In 1999 WUC became a pioneer in the country by implementing

integrated business system called Systems Application Product (SAP)

to improve delivery on customer services.

“The benefits of having an integrated business system are often

demonstrated as it has delivered a lot on customer service delivery”

said Mbayi. “Our greatest challenges has been to adopt some of

the systems we took over in 2009 and bring them in line with other

processes at WUC.”

Due to taking over different sections, WUC has inherited more

than 2,200 staff to add to its existing 800 employees and integrating

them comes with the challenge of uniting the different cultures from

the different organisations. The secret, Mbayi maintains, Is to unite

their goals first to ensure everything is moving in the right direction

towards supplying uninterrupted water utilities to all of Bostwana.

Mbayi and the Directors at the WUC believe that its overall mission

is within sight:

“We all look forward to the day when we can look back and say

with pride that water service level has increased in all corners of the

country.”

Relying on a wealth of experience the WUC are succeeding in

making the biggest differences to clean water and quality wastewater

services. Management are keen to highlight that things have only just

begun and there is still a lot that WUV will be able to provide.

WUC

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