10 Aug 2016

The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila on  Monday, presented the Draft National Water Policy before Parliament.
He said the policy sought to provide innovative water and sanitation solutions geared towards ensuring that water was properly positioned to meet the needs of the nation.
The policy also provides a national framework that will facilitate access to water of suitable quality and standards for the citizens and provide foundations for development of water resources in support of economic growth, diversification and poverty eradication.
The draft policy is made up of 14 chapters and has several recommendations that have been made by key stakeholders in formulation of the national water policy.
Further, the draft policy suggests that there should  be separation of roles within water sector to ensure clarity among policy formulator, the regulator and service provider.
Some of the recommendations include ownership of water as national resource, priority of water use that is categorised into human consumption, environment, arable and livestock use and industrial applications.
The draft policy has also recommended that water as a basic necessity should not be provided for free in the country, but the lower block consumption tariff (0-5000 litres) should be kept as low as possible to cater for the poor.
Another recommendation, according to minister Mokaila was that  water right must be obtained on application to the Water Resource Board. “This will be a reconstituted Water Appointment Board with rights to be granted subject to a variety of conditions, some of which may be standard conditions whilst others may be specific to particular circumstances,” he sad.
In addition, Mr Mokaila said there should be an independent water regulator for economic purpose that will ensure financial sustainability across the water sector.
All water supply and sewerage services will be vested on one authority being Water Utilities Corporation.
The draft policy also suggested that there should  be raw water attraction fee to help offset the cost of water resource management and to provide an incentive for efficient water use. Also water for agricultural enterprises will be fully accounted for in the national water balance.
Other recommendations are the  phasing out of standpipes with special dispensation given by local authorities to identify deserving households to enable them to access water either by token or open taps.
In the recommendations, the Department of Water Affairs would have a new mandate that of acting as a technical secretariat to the Water Resource Board and its roles will be to assess, plan, develop and manage water resources for short, medium and long term purposes.  
On other issues, Mr Mokaila informed Parliament that the policy was necessitated by the crippling drought which besieged the country, calling for a clear policy.
He said his ministry had constituted a working group comprising of key government departments to facilitate the drafting process and that a number of workshops with the working group facilitated by World Bank Group during the process were held. Objectives of the workshops were to allow involvement and input of key stakeholder in formulation of the national water policy and provide dialogue amongst key stakeholders.ENDS