Water, Sewage & Effluent July August 2018 | Page 3

Time for collaboration? T Kim Kemp | Editor | [email protected] Water Sewage & Effluent July/August 2018 1 technology Helgard Muller nodded his head. That this is exactly what the problem is, namely no cooperation; no sitting around a table populated by representatives from each interested party (and believe me, we are all very interested, as a country generally), trying to find areas of commonality and synchronicity. So, it was with utter glee that during the Wednesday plenary, I heard someone from the Health Department ask this exact question of the two speakers, Dhesigen Naidoo from the WRC and Sunita Narain, from India, a published authority on Indian water issues. I could have hugged him (the guy from the Health Department, not Naidoo). In fact, the WRC’s CEO was so enthralled as to the young man’s nerve, that he called him up to join him on the platform and then flamboyantly took off his “branded WRC jacket” and gave it to the young man, calling him “courageous” and vowing that this would be his pledge thereafter. I left feeling somewhat relieved that this had been addressed — and a part of me wondered if the jacket would have fitted me as well as it did the young man? u Dhesigen Naidoo talking at WISA, while still in possession of his “branded WRC jacket”. he biennial WISA 2018 Conference was held in Cape Town from 24 to 28 June. With no less than 11 sessions running in parallel each of the full days, the subject matter was vast, covering everything from the impact of acid mine drainage to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And therein lays the challenge. While I commend the work that went into organising the conference, as an individual, there was no time or capacity to follow any of the themed subject matters in any depth, as well as network, interview, gain an overall understanding as to the status of the water sector, and view the exhibitions. This smorgasbord of offerings played on my mind and while sitting with Helgard Muller and having a cuppa before the first plenary on the Wednesday morning, a thought occurred to me, which I voiced to him: How is it that South Africa appears to be lagging in the water sector, specifically in finding solutions? Could it be that we are fractured in our approach? My reasoning went something like this: If one had a chance to view the programme, going by the list of speakers and delegates, there is no lack of expertise, both public and private; no shortage of innovation and technological savvy; and a vast pool of well- equipped individuals and companies who feel passionate about the state of our water sector. Yet we are floundering. Granted, this is thanks largely to an ineffectual, inept Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), which has just sloughed off an utter incompetent in the form of Nomvula Mokonyane and now, filled her vacated position with a minister who comes without any knowledge of the water sector, National Minister of Water and Sanitation, Gugile Nkwinti. After holding the position for 100 days, by his own admission, at WISA, Nkwinti confessed that he “has a lot to learn”. Basically, he’s a place holder for the department until the 2019 elections, but that’s another story. Why, I (rhetorically) asked my coffee companion, is it that, with so many departments, bodies, authorities, initiatives, individuals, companies (and possible funding), there is no collaboration among the parties? Why are there so many silos of knowledge that not only soak up any funding that may come their individual way, but ideas/initiatives/projects appear to be occurring in parallel? We already know that the water sector is politically driven, but could it also be ego driven?