During the year under review the organisation met a lot of challenges. The sector also continued to undergo the inevitable changes brought by the democratization process of the state and its organs taking place in the country. The government through President Mbeki committed itself and its organs to accelerate delivery of services within strict time frames. In our sector we have critical timelines as outlined on the ‘Strategic Framework for Water Services’. There is a need to balance the needs of the first and the second economies. Bushbuckridge Water predominantly serves the market in the second economy.

To respond to all these challenges the board strengthened its corporate governance profile by establishing an Executive Committee within its fold and ensuring a continuous process of capacity building through training of board members. SAAWU and DWAF have been supportive in this regard. A new organisation structure and sets of policies have been approved to ensure both performance and compliance. We will shortly fill the vacant post of the Chief Financial Officer and appoint a full time internal auditor. We also managed to review our Policy Statement during the year under review.

The business of the board is growing and stabilizing. During the year under review Bushbuckridge Water signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bohlabela District Municipality, which will serve as a service agreement until a properly negotiated agreement is signed. This is a positive gesture from the Water Services Authority. The signing of this MOU paved way for the municipality to start paying for services. DWAF also extended our contract to operate schemes in the Nsikazi area until June 2005. This has given us time to negotiate with Mbombela Municipality (a receiving authority) for service agreement. We are currently engaging with other neighbouring municipalities to ensure that we grow into a regional utility that can be of service to all municipalities of the region

(to be inserted after the auditor’s report)

Bushbuckridge Water’s continued existence is highly dependent on its relationship with its customers and stakeholders. We are tirelessly working on customer relations that position our customers (municipalities) to successfully deliver water services in a sustainable manner. This is done within the context of sector reform, the SAAWU/SALGA processes, and on municipality by municipality. We have now established working relations with SALGA in the province. The continued leadership provided by DWAF and the collaborative framework provided by SAAWU is highly appreciated. Our relations with other water boards, especially Rand Water continue to yield positive results. The board has now resolved that it will annually invite its stakeholders to an interactive session where we will table our report and the vision for the future.

Social Responsibility

Although the organisation has not made significant strides regarding revenue, it has already started to be involved in community programmes. We have established our social responsibility function, organised under the Bushbuckridge Water Foundation, which is allocated one percent of retained earnings. The Foundation is also able to mobilize funding and resources from other agencies to pursue worthy causes in our area of supply. Our social responsibility focus is grounded on our staff’s willingness to uplift communities, develop capacity and transfer skills to the people of the region.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude by thanking all persons and organisations that worked for the continuous development of Bushbuckridge Water. On behalf of the Board I send a special thanks to our former Minister Ronnie Kasrils for his leadership, and wish him well in his new Portfolio as Minister of Intelligence Services. I also thank Minister Buyelwa Sonjica and her executive team in DWAF, for their commitment to the success of water boards. I also thank other stakeholders like the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provincial Governments, SALGA and SAAWU for their leadership and support. I also thank our municipalities for their fair and frank engagements during the year under review.

Lastly, I convey my sincere gratitude to my colleagues on the board, the Chief Executive, Management and staff for all our collective actions in keeping the organisation running. I hope we will move together in crushing the water and sanitation backlogs as guided by the sector targets.

Thokozane Patience Nyakane

Chairperson of the Board