Analysis of public policies and programmes to water security in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is a water stressed country with increasing pressure on water resources due to population growth, increasing levels of urbanisation, inadequate funding in water infrastructure, and the impacts of climate change, resulting in growing demand for water resources. The post-government in 1994 initiated many policies and programmes with the aim of promoting water security. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. Furthermore, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the NDP to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. A total of 20 respondents were selected purposely from the Department of water and sanitation and other private institutions in the water sector to participate in semi-structured and in-depth interviews. Additionally, 89 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in four provinces in South Africa. The questions sought to analyse the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of policies to achieve water security in South Africa. The results revealed that in the context of policy formulation the country has enacted numerous policies and programmes aimed at promoting water security. However, the policies and programmes do not go far enough to address the challenges of municipalities as the major polluters, nor solving the funding gaps and creating a smart water economy. The study, therefore, recommends an independent water regulator to be established to coordinate different government departments, including the National Treasury to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector, and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector.