CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3 Legislative and statutory provisions relating to water management in South
to section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996) which
dictates that everyone has the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of the present and future generations, through legislative and other measures, thereby embracing the concept of sustainable development. A number of environmental management principles which apply to all organs of state are included in section 2 of the NEMA, reinforcing the state’s commitment to sustainable development. The NEMA is the umbrella or framework legislation the main purpose of which is to regulate the governance of the environment in a co-operative fashion (Oosthuizen et al., 2018). Co-operative governance by all the stakeholders involved is therefore considered as one of the most important mechanisms to achieve integrated and sustainable environmental management (Bray, 1999).
The co-operative governance principle section 2 (4)(l) of the NEMA makes provision for intergovernmental co-ordination and harmonisation of policies and legislation relating to the environment (Oosthuizen et al., 2018). The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act No. 13 of 2005 intends to “establish a framework for the national government, provincial governments and local governments to promote and facilitate intergovernmental relations; to provide for mechanisms and procedures that contribute to the settlement of intergovernmental disputes; and to provide for matters connected therewith”.
The Constitution of South Africa makes provision for the national government to be the custodian of the nation’s water resources. The National Water Act (No. 36 of 1998) gives the directive to manage, control and protect the country’s water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner, to the Minister of DWS. The mandate of the NWA is to promote the implementation of an IWRM framework. The National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1997) (NWA) provides the legal framework for the effective and sustainable management of the country’s water resources, whereas the Water Services Act (WSA) (Act No. 108 of 1997) sets the mandate on water service provision and the setting of licence criteria for discharges. The WSA controls drinking water and sanitation provision and management by local government/ municipalities through rules and regulations. DWS liaise with the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) to ensure that the WSA is implemented and water-related bylaws developed in compliance with national norms and standards (DWAF, 2013). The leadership obligations of the DWS therefore include the facilitation of intergovernmental co-operation between public sector institutions and agencies, collaboration on intergovernmental relations and public participation, through liaison with DCoG.
The National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS) was introduced to encourage IWRM in the country to achieve a balance between the use and protection of water resources in an integrated, economically and environmentally sustainable manner for the benefit of all (DWAF, 2013). The main objective of the NWRS is to manage water resources in a way that guarantees that adequate water of suitable quality is accessible to users to ensure resilient economic growth, while at the
same time ensure a high quality of life while ensuring aquatic ecosystem health (DWAF, 2013).
The transformation of the management of South Africa’s water resources in the context of IWRM allow for citizen participation (Boyd & Thompkins, 2011; Claassen, 2013; Meissner et al., 2016).
Accordingly, the emphasis of the NWA is on decentralization and public participation in decisions made with respect to water resources management (Meissner et al., 2016). To ensure effective water resources management the NWRS delegates responsibility and authority to catchment management agencies (CMAs) and water user associations (WUAs) (DWAF, 2013). The country was divided into 19 Water Management Areas in 1999 managed by CMAs that take responsibility for water resource management of all catchments in South Africa at a regional or catchment level (DWAF, 2013). The financial viability as well as the capacity, skills and expertise of staff to implement the mandate stipulated by the NWRS after which the decision was made in 2012 to consolidate the 19 CMAs into nine (9) CMAs (Figure 2-1) (DWAF, 2013). The boundaries of the CMAs took catchment and aquifer boundaries and financial viability into consideration. As a result, the boundaries of CMAs are not aligned with administrative boundaries such as provincial, district or local government boundaries.
It was envisaged that for each WMA a CMA would be established which would perform certain management functions, co-operate and seek agreement on water-related matters among various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and interested parties (DWAF, 2013; Meissner et al., 2016). The role of CMAs is to ensure that water resources are managed in accordance with national policies, guidelines and standards in the catchment, through the active participation of local communities and other stakeholders. Each CMA would be governed by a board to ensure representativeness and have a mandate to develop catchment management strategies (CMS), which constitute a plan to implement the protection, use, development, conservation, management, and control of water resources in their respective catchments (Meissner et al., 2016).
Figure 2-1: South African Water Management Areas highlighting the limits of the BGWMA (modified from SSA, 2021)
The historical overview of water management in the study area as well as the transition to a CMA and how the delegated water resource functions of the CMA were implemented in the study area will be discussed in the following section. The co-operation between various national, provincial and local government departments involved in the water management in the study area will also be highlighted.