Instead, says KPMG, he merely
highlighted short-term relief projects
that are currently under way, like
Operation Hydrate.
Siyanda Ralane, a consultant in
financial services at KPMG, notes that in
Kwazulu-Natal, an initial sum of R352.6million plus an additional R96.6-million
have been set aside to mitigate the
impact of the drought.
“However, a long-term solution
would be needed to address water
wastage through water demand
management programmes at a local
government level. At a national level,
adequate investment must be made
to ensure a more sustainable means
of managing the available water
resources,” he says.
Falling short
Ralane argues that while the previous
budget set aside R12.4-billion for water
infrastructure development (including
R7.9-billion for water resource
infrastructure), it fell short of what was
needed. Due to the current state of the
economy, it is expected that the amount
set aside in the 2016/7 budget will be
even less.
“This means that infrastructure
implementation will have to be done
over a longer period. In this case,
care must be taken to complete the
implementation before the next El Niño,”
Ralane says.
“Despite the current water crisis,
it was revealed at the end of
last year that the Department
of Water and Sanitation failed
to spend a hefty R2-billion of its
budget in 2015.”
30
Water Sewage & Effluent November/December 2016
Currently, South Africa’s aging water
infrastructure is in need of a major
overhaul, as some 55% of wastewater
treatment plants, especially the smaller
ones, do not meet effluent standards.
In addition, some do not even measure
effluent quality.
Government launched a Green Drop
certification for municipal wastewater
treatment, which shows that as of May
2011, seven out of 159 water supply
authorities were certified with the
green drop and 32 out of 1 237 wastewater
treatment plants were certified with the
green drop. In 2009, when 449 wastewater
treatment plants had been assessed,
according to official government data, 7%
were classified as excellently managed, 38%
“performed within acceptable standards”
and 55% did not perform within acceptable
standards.
According to Bluewater Bio, an
international firm that specialises in
wastewater treatment, out of 1 600
wastewater treatment plants in South
Africa (not all of which were included
in the Green Drop assessment) at
least 60% are not meeting regulatory
compliance requirements.
According to a study by the South
African Water Research Commission in
partnership with the South African Local
Government Association, published in
June 2013, 44% of wastewater treatment
plants included in a representative
sample used inappropriate and
unnecessarily expensive technologies.
“There is a lack of funding for
maintenance because of low tariffs,
insufficient collection, and the absence
of ring-fencing of revenues for the
purpose of maintaining assets, so that
municipalities run assets to failure,”
says Bluewater Bio.
Underspending worries
Yet, despite the need for South Africa to
upgrade its water infrastructure, another
concern among those within the water
industry is that the state could fail to spend
its entire budget allocation, as was the
case last year.
Despite the current water crisis, it was
revealed at the end of last year that the
Department of Water and Sanitation failed
to spend a hefty R2-billion of its budget in
2015. Meanwhile, the department’s request
to the Auditor-General that the amount be
rolled over to the current financial year