From nine-to-one: will a single catchment management agency ensure the sustainable and equitable use of South Africa’s water resources?

Abstract

Water is life. South Africa recognises the importance of water as a resource and further understands that the effective management of it is key to the fulfilment of socio-economic goals. To that end, South Africa water law seeks to decentralise water management through Catchment Management Agencies. However, the plans and policies around them have not been very successful thus an overhaul of the Catchment Management Agencies structures is necessary. The main aim of this paper is to examine and consider whether the proposed Single Catchment Management Agency, as discussed in the Business case published by the Department of Water and Sanitation, can fulfil the mandate of Catchment Management Agencies and facilitate sustainable and equitable use of water as envisioned by the National Water Act 36 of 1998 and the National Water Resource Strategy 2. The paper interrogates whether the Single Catchment Management Agency can withstand the challenges presented by the previous incarnation of the Catchment Management Agencies and successfully facilitate the realisation of sustainable and equitable use of water resources in South Africa. This was done through an evaluation of the National Water Act 36 of 1998-the framework legislation for water resource management, several academic papers as well as various Department policy documents. The analysis showed that the Single Catchment Management Agency is not strictly a decentralised institution as envisioned by the National Water Resource Strategy 2 and is not guaranteed to work. However, an analysis of the key factors indicated that with stronger institutional arrangements, particularly regarding stakeholder participation and the adaptive management of water resources, the Single Catchment Management Agency stands a good chance of succeeding and propelling water resource management in South Africa forward and thus meeting transformative goals as well as the legislative mandate of sustainable and equitable use of water.