Department of Water Affairs Annual Report 2006

LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
14 November 2006
DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS ANNUAL REPORT 2006

Chairperson: Rev P Moatshe (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Department of Water Affairs Introductory Remarks by the Director General
Department of Water Affairs presentation Outline

SUMMARY
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry briefed the Committee on its Annual Report. The Director General candidly stated that the Department had had qualified audit report for a number of years, that this was a cause for concern, and was being addressed stringently. There had however been progress in building capacity to deliver under partnerships, collaboration with other departments and the national water resources infrastructure agency. Water sanitation, water management and forestry enterprise development were proceeding well. A gender and disability Directorate had been created. Learnership programmes had been implemented. A department-wide performance plan was now in place. The Acting Chief Financial Officer gave a full report on the qualifications and the steps to address them, and reported that 98.8% of allocations had been utilised, with under spending concentrated mainly on the administrative side. The Water Resources Management section summarised their achievements, including the launch of a water allocation reform programme had been launched, issuing of licences, exceeding targets on Working for Water targets, assistance to resource poor farmers through rehabilitation of irrigation schemes and erection of rainwater tanks. There was a need for closer alignment with local and provincial government. The Water Services Programme reported that one million people were served with water and 83% of the population now did have access to basic services. The free basic sanitation programmes had not yet begun. The Department was faced with capacity constraints, poor communication from municipalities, inadequate Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding, and lack of infrastructure. Improved relationships with the Premiers and MECs were needed, and it was necessary to develop a provincial Water Sector Plan. The work and development in Forestry were outlined and the challenges were set out. 

Questions by members addressed the rainwater tank project, steps taken to improve capacity, the forthcoming legislation, the plans for the eradication of the bucket system in certain municipalities, the training programmes, the bursary fund, and the possibility of using water earmarked for disused mines for schools. Other questions which were to be responded to in writing, due to lack of time, included the budget rollovers, underground water, timeframes for correction of the audit problems, the One Stop Shop in North West, the availability of free basic water, billing where no services were available, and the lack of capacity coupled with the non-filling of posts.

MINUTES
Mr Jabulani Sindane, Director General, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), said that the Department had had a qualified audit report for a number of years. The Department was not proud of the disclaimers and the audit qualifications. It was aware of the root causes of the problem, and the offices of the Auditor-General, Accountant General and the Department were working together to try to solve the problems. The problems seemed to emanate from lack of capacity and failure to apply existing policy and regulations. He said that the Minister had committed the Department to a clean audit; and his own performance agreement reflected that commitment. HE summarised that progress had been made in building capacity to deliver under partnerships, and that there was collaboration with other departments to implement water allocations programmes. Governance of water boards needed more focus. The national water resources infrastructure agency was well on track. Water sanitation and water management were proceeding well. DWAF had created a forestry branch, and forestry enterprise development was proceeding well.

Ms N Ngele, Deputy Director General Corporate Services, DWAF mentioned that achievements over the last year included the creation of a forestry branch and gender and disability Directorate. Learnership programmes had been implemented and there would be an 8% improvement on appointment of women in decision-making positions. Internal governance structures had been reviewed. She noted that the challenges included the implementation of the turnaround strategy for human resources, the finalisation of the transfers to water service authorities, and increasing public awareness. The Department was building the capability to deliver better service and she tabled a department-wide performance plan that included the implementation of normative performance standards and quarterly reports.  DWAF had a leadership and management development programme in place.

Mr Trevor Balzer, Acting CFO, DWAF presented the financial statements and reports of the Auditor General on financial statements. There had been total spending of R9 billion. There were qualified audit reports on the Exchequer Account (vote 34), the Water Trading Account, and the Equipment Trading Account. An unqualified audit was given for the National Forest Recreation and Access Trust. He explained the qualifications and stated that there was now a finance management improvement plan, that included restructuring, separation of the trading and main account activities, contracts for temporary staff seconded from private firms to improve financial management while recruitment was ongoing, implementation of SAP as the preferred accounting system, training programmes, implementing asset management strategy and building on successes by the Audit Steering Committee. The budget figures showed that 98.8% of allocations had been utilised, with under spending concentrated mainly on the administrative side.  .

Ms Barbara Schreiner Deputy Director General, Water Resources Management said that even though rainfall had increased compared to 2004/05, continued water restrictions were still necessary in many areas. Water storage in dams was at around 90%. The Department continued to give support to municipalities. A water allocation reform programme had been launched. The Department had authorised water use through the issuing of 254 licences, but needed to address the challenges of black economic empowerment (BEE). Working for water targets had been exceeded with 2 million person days of employment created, and over 11 000 employment opportunities created. The resource poor farmers were assisted through the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes and the erection of rainwater tanks. There was a need for closer alignment with local and provincial government. Water use efficiency projects had been started and stakeholders were involved in the consultation process. Education and training was taking place at schools. New water user associations had been established, the transfer process to the associations continued, and water resource monitoring continued.

Ms T Mbassa, Deputy Director General, Water Services, DWAF dealt with the strategic objectives of the Water Services Programme. One million people were served with water, lowering the backlog to 3.3 million people without basic water supply and 4 million whose water standards were not in line with the programme. 83% of the population now did have access to basic services at Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) level. Access to sanitation had improved to 69%. 80% of the population had access to free basic water but the free basic sanitation programmes had not yet begun. The Department was faced with capacity constraints, especially technical and programme management skills, lack of maintenance by water service authorities of the older equipment, poor communication, inadequate Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding, financial constraints in the Department of Education and Health hindering the service delivery to schools and clinics, and lack of infrastructure, which meant that the poorest of the poor did not receive access to free basic water. DWAF did not have a voice at provincial level, and needed to strengthen relationships with the Premier and MEC, and there was a need for a provincial Water Sector Plan. There was a lack of integrated management at the Water Service Authority level. The approaches and plans for the future were outlined.

Ms Barbara Schreiner spoke on forestry and detailed the developments on the Draft Forest Sector Charter, challenges facing the forestry sector and the work of DWAF in Forest enterprise development. She tabled and explained the developments in the sustainable management of plantations, which included workshops and a research project aimed at assisting small growers. . She mentioned that challenges would include the sustainable management of plantations, payment of lease rentals, the Blyde Exit strategy, and the transfer of estates. She set out the international development and co-operation achievements, and the promotion of afforestation. 

Discussion
Mr F Adams (ANC) commended the Director General for his honest approach and said it was very rare for the Departments to be upfront about their weaknesses. He said that he had not seen or heard about Ministerial imbizos organised by the government, mentioned in the documents.

Mr Sindane replied that the Ministerial imbizos had been held in various provinces. The last one was held at Nkandla in KwaZulu Natal and the media was informed.

Mr Adams commented that it was strange that the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga were not part of the Rain Water Tank Project, especially since the Northern Cape was one of the driest areas in the country.

Ms Schreiner replied that the rain water tanks project was still in its pilot phase, as DWAF had been experimenting with various types of tanks. The project would be expanded to other regions at a later stage. She said that the Working for Water Programme had trained people and offered them a stipend and a job creation programme on sanitation would employ more people.

Mr Sindane stated that the Department had now set up an Audit Committee to that included people from the Office of the Auditor General to deal with the disclaimer. It was hoped that this would assist in the audit problems and in the meantime staff were being hired.

Ms Oliphant asked about the legislation that would be introduced the following year so that the Committee could plan ahead.

Mr Sindane replied that the three pieces of legislation would be introduced in the fourth term of 2007.

Ms Oliphant noted that the Mayor of Fezile Dabi District Municipality had told Members that there was no budget for the Bucket System Eradication Project; but the MEC had said the money was available. There was clearly a lack of communication and she asked where the problem did lie,

Ms Oliphant reported that the people of Limpopo had been complaining that the Cubans who were engaged to train people had entered into working contracts and were not doing the training. She also said that even where training had been given in Limpopo, the trained people were not being employed afterwards.

Mr Sindane confirmed that regrettably most of the weaknesses in the programmes emanated from the regions. He said that he would ask the Limpopo Chief Director in regard to the trained people.

Ms Mbassa added that the Cubans were meant to build capacity and transfer skills to the local people. DWAF was over stretched and ended up having to allocate the work out, particularly if there were not sufficient people to be trained. DWAF would set up a bursary fund so that water and forestry graduates could spend a year or two at DWAF, thus creating a critical mass of skilled people to address capacity problems. The Cubans would be involved in this bursary training project.

Ms Oliphant suggested that the water that was earmarked for disused mines could be channelled to the needy communities. Some schools and clinics that still had no water and sanitation.

Mr Sindane replied that the Department of Education relied on the Department of Public Works for infrastructure such as water pipes. He suggested that sanitation and provision of water to schools should be the responsibility of municipalities. He said he would try to gather more information on the disused mines’ water facilities.

Ms H Matlanyane (ANC) said that the Committee expected to see the Department officials manning stalls during the Taking Parliament To The People sessions. That would make significant impact as people could pose questions directly to those who were responsible for service delivery.

Ms Matlanyane asked the difference between a Water Agency and Water Board.

Mr Sindane replied that Water Board work focussed on small geographic areas like municipalities, while Water Agency work would sometimes cross borders. An example of this would be the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

Ms Oliphant asked for an explanation of the budget rollovers.

Ms Matlanyane was disturbed that people were reliant on underground water.

Ms Matlanyane asked about timeframes for the correction of the qualified audit report; and clarity on the one stop shop in North West.

Ms Matlanyane noted that there had been complaints that some people received water accounts while they did not have water pipes in their plots. In addition to that she asked whether free basic water was still applicable.

Mr Adams asked the reason that the Acting CFO could not be made a permanent employee.

Ms M Oliphant (ANC) asked for clarity on the lack of capacity, and asked how the Department hoped to solve this.

Ms Matlanyane also could not understand the reason the Department could not hire suitable staff for the vacant posts;

The Chairperson asked Mr Sindane to forward written answers to the Committee in respect of questions that could not be answered because of time constraints.

The meeting was adjourned.