South Africa Water sector needs R573bn (approximately EUR 55,8bn) pumped into it

Source: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Water-sector-needs-R573bn-pumped-into-it-20120416 Cape Town - Water-stressed South Africa needs to invest a massive R573bn in waterinfrastructure,services and demand management over the next decade, but has budgeted for less than half this amount, government said on Monday. This gap was a "significant shortfall", water affairs chief operations officer Trevor Balzer told reporters at Parliament. "If you look at [what is needed across] the total watervalue chain, you're looking at a figure of R573bn over 10 years." This included about R394bn for water services; R162bn for water resources infrastructure;and R16bn for water demand management. "If you look at the current budget allocations, taking into account all of the grant-funded programmes that National Treasury has put in place as well... our 10-year projection is that 44% is budgeted for. You've got a gap of 56%," Balzer said. Above-inflation tariffs The R573bn total covered all departmental, municipaland waterboardinfrastructure and services requirements, he said. Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told journalists it was clear a "lot of money" was needed to meet the country's growing demand for water. Asked if above-inflation tariff increases to help fund this huge shortfall were now on the cards, she replied: "Probably." Molewa said that when a lot of moneyneeded to be found, "itgoeswithoutsaying that the costislikely to be very high. And therefore the charges that have to be paid may also be high". The department was looking at standardising tariffs across the various sectors,and there was therefore a possibility of cross-subsidisation. This exercise would be completed by the end of the year, the minister said. Proportional water use in South Africa at the moment breaks downas: - Agriculture: about 62%; - Domestic sector: about 27%, of which 23% goes to urban areas and fourpercentto ruralareas; - Mining: about 2.5%; and, - Industry: about 10%, of which Eskom consumes about 2% and forestry about 3%. Looking to the private sector There is also a provision for the environment - made in terms of the National Water Act - to ensure stream flows and protect ecosystems. The different sectors pay different tariffs for the watertheyuse. Molewa suggested there was a possibility of either National Treasury or government subsidisingthe huge amounts of investment needed in water infrastructure and services, but said it was too early to pronounce on this because discussions were ongoing. "It's not possible for us to say at this point in time because we have to negotiate... to be able to say that if this is a commodity that's needed by everybody to do development,and you're chargingforit wayabove inflation, for instance, that would strangle development." Molewa also said government was looking to the private sector to help fund the infrastructure her department needed. This follows remarks she made last month, when she said her department was hoping to attract foreign investment to help revive its ageing water infrastructure. Challenges A total of 43 wastewater treatment plants were under development in South Africa,and "ifwe co-funded, we could take the money saved and spend it elsewhere". Molewa said at the time that an ideal situation would be "going rand for rand" with private investors. Balzer on Monday said that for new infrastructure, the department alone would need R230bn over the next 10 years. It would also require "in the order of R96bn" for the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure. A statement tabled by Molewa on Monday,detailing progress made to date by a special task team appointed in June last year to advise on a turnaround strategy for the department,delivers what amountsto a stinging indictment of work carried out by her predecessors. Among the challenges identified by the 13-member businessprocess re-engineering committee,isthat the sector is characterised by a "lack of leadership and management skills; administrative complexities due to multi-level governance; elitist and undemocratic decision-making processes; and... relativelypoor institutional performance". Molewa appointed the team following the auditor-generalfinding fault with the department'swatertrading and main accounts. On Monday, she announced a major project was underwayto reorganise water affairs' finance branch, which included the appointment of a new chief financial officer.