PARTNERSHIPS AND REFORMS - EMBASSY OF DENMARK Pretoria, South Africa - Denmark in South Africa
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
EMBASSY OF DENMARK EMBASSY
Pretoria, South Africa OF DENMARK
Pretoria, South Africa
WATER QUARTERLY NEWS, AUGUST 2021
PARTNERSHIPS
EMBASSY OF DENMARK
Pretoria, South Africa
EMBASSY
OF DENMARK
Pretoria, South Africa
AND REFORMS
Quarterly news on the water sector in both Denmark and South Africa
EMBASSY OF DENMARK EMBASSY
Pretoria, South Africa OF DENMARK
Pretoria, South Africa
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
WATER QUARTERLY AUGUST 2021
a_partnership that can make us reach our goals
BY MILLE JEFSEN a word from the
counselllor
In 2018, Cape Town was two days from running out of water. They were saved by
the bell and has since then focused on achieving a more resilient water supply to BY JØRGEN ERIK LARSEN
the city. The Danish Embassy in Pretoria has supported the creation of a
partnership, which aims to do exactly that. It is with a huge satisfaction that I
have noticed that 5 out of 19
In 2020, the Danish Embassy created together with WWF – World Wide Fund priority reforms in the Operation
for Nature and several other key actors in the water sector the ”Table Mountain Vulindlela work plan are focusing
Water Source Area Partnership” (TMWSA). The partnership is a cooperative on water.
organisation, with the goal of connecting research and knowledge within
groundwater management and monitoring to the political will on the area, and I am proud that the Danish
furthermore to create awareness amongst the citizens of Cape Town on the Strategic Sector Cooperation
importance of Programme is supporting two: the
groundwater. reviving of the No Drop programme
and the initial studies in the
The partnership is
preparation of establishing a
supported by Denmark
National Water Resource
with ZAR 10.3 million
Infrastructure Agency. Structural
over two years.
reforms and economic reforms are
crucial both when the sector reality
On a windy afternoon
has developed beyond the
back in April 2021, the
historical platform for the existing
TMWSA-partners –
regulatory and institutional
ranging from
framework and when you are
governmental bodies,
governed by frameworks that are
NGO’s, research
beyond repair. Both factors are in
institutions and private
Table Mountain, Cape Town (Photo: Jørgen Erik Larsen) place in South Africa.
sector - sat down
together in Cape Town to discuss what we as a united group aim to achieve
Implementation of structural
that each of the partners are not able to achieve on their own.
reforms to secure frameworks that
As an exercise of focusing on our unity, the meeting focused on the “12 points
are answering to present and
of tension” – areas that have been identified, where each partner has a
future South Africa and to secure
different view on which path, we should take.
revenue collection and supply
The goal was to clarify who we are and what we stand for, in order to make
chains are crucial to sustain and
sure that we stand a united front, both when it comes to sharing the successes develop the delivery of water and
but also when it comes to overcoming challenges. sanitation service.
One thing is clear – the partnership has high expectations to itself, when it
It is core to welfare, dignity and
comes to contributing to making the groundwater management in Cape Town
essential to sustain the economic
more sustainable in the future. The TMWSA-partnership aims to be a recovery and we remain committed
frontrunner within the water resource management area in South Africa. to support the ongoing work of
Thereby, the dreams are big and so are the actions. Through strong Operation Vulindlela in the water
partnerships, we can and will work our way towards a sustainable future with sector.
better and more secure access to water for all.
SOUTH AFRICA
WATER QUARTERLY NEWS AUGUST 2021
Danish water sector reforms
BY NSUKU NXUMALO
Danish Water Demand
Management
The Danish Water Sector, consisting of over 2000 water utilities has walked the
Interventions
journey of reform over years. In 2010, Danish water utilities underwent
organisational separation from the municipalities as directed by the Water Sector 1987: First Environmental Plan
Reform Act of 2009. The key reform elements in Denmark involved the regulatory
for Water
authority, incentive-based price regulation, corporatisation and benchmarking.
During this process, Danish authorities had to grapple with critical questions 1994: Charge on piped water
related to the reforms. For example, when it comes to benchmarking, how does
1997: Charge on wastewater
the regulator account for the heterogeneity of utilities across the country when
applying efficiency targets? effluent from purification
plants
When implementing central regulation, how does the role of a central regulator
relate to a decentralised political structure while ensuring that there is no 1998: Second Environmental
overlapping or conflicting mandates? These and other questions were Plan for Water
negotiated through stakeholder engagement, taking a heterogeneous approach
to benchmarking and clarifying roles and responsibilities for key players. 1999: Requirement for Water
Meters
2004: Third Environmental
Plan for Water
2007: Municipal Reform
2009: Water Sector Act
2012: Contribution to the
protection of drinking water
In addition to the reforms, Danish water consumption has been on a decreasing
trend since 1987, as seen in the figure above. The text box on the right shows
some of the interventions which are believed to have had an effect on the Contact
decrease in water consumption trends. The first Environmental Plan for Water Embassy of Denmark in
had a significant effect on reducing water consumption primarily through Pretoria,
increasing environmental awareness among consumers. Its implementation also The Strategic Sector
coincided with an increase in wastewater rates. In 1994, a drinking water tax was Cooperation team
on tap water introduced, Green 70 cents. That meant that between 1994 and
1998, 14 cents was added to the tariff annually. Jørgen Erik Larsen, Counsellor
for Water, Energy, Research
These are among some of the interventions that Denmark embarked on to
and Innovation:
address a crucial element in the water sector – demand management.
joelar@um.dk
The Danish story emphasises the importance of cooperation and addressing both
water supply and demand when implementing reforms. Website: sydafrika.um.dk
You can also read
