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Newsletter Blue Deal South Africa

2024 - 2


Dear Readers,

Another three months have passed and a lot has happened in the Blue Deal. The WISA conference in Durban was a moment to reap the results of our efforts. Where shall we start?

The Dutch ambassador, Joanne Doornewaard, opened the WISA 2024 Blue Deal workshop where we exchanged lessons learned between the partnerships of South Africa, eSwatini and Mozambique. Special attention was paid to the position of women in the water sector, also a relevant issue in the Netherlands. Importantly, the royal visit is a recognition of the good work done by the Blesbokspruit local team and its partnersthe South Africa – Netherlands Joint Steering Committee gathered to discuss the progress of all water-related collaboration between our countries, under the inspiring leadership of DG Sean Phillips of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Dutch ambassador.

Another important event at WISA was the official launch of two new Catchment Management Agencies: PUCMA (Pongola-Umzimkulu) and VOCMA (Vaal-Orange). Minister Senzo Mchunu came to Durban to personally launch this major milestone. The MTCMA (Mzimvubu-Tsitsikamma) and LOCMA (Limpopo-Olifants) will follow soon. IUCMA (Inkomati-Usuthu) and BOCMA (Breede-Olifants) were already established in the past. (Yes, we love CMA abbreviations…) The Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) are proud to have contributed to the CMA establishment process, and look forward with enthusiasm to bi-directional learning collaborations with the CMAs into the future.

There is much to tell about the five local Blue Deal projects as well, please read this newsletter to find out more. In June 2024, the Blue Deal National Steering Committee was hosted by the Netherlands Embassy, and informed all partners as to the about the progress and challenges during a live meeting in Pretoria. The national partners – DWS, WRC, SALGA and CoGTA/MISA - agreed to have a digital follow-up per project to strengthen their project specific support.

A lot of small steps contributing to progress within one big movement. We continue steadily; after all water management is a long term challenge.

With kind regards,
Eustathia Bofilatos (DWS Director of Institutional Oversight, South Africa) Marion Wierda (DWA Chief Executive Blue Deal South Africa, The Netherlands)

Blue Deal Crocodile River Partnership continues to make strides towards quality water in the Crocodile River

The Blue Deal Crocodile River Partnership continues its collaborative efforts to enhance the quality of water and sustainability in the Crocodile River in the Mpumalanga Province. Comprising a diverse coalition of partners, their mission focuses on optimising six wastewater treatment facilities along the Crocodile River.

Read more

Milestone during WISA: Establishment of Catchment Management Agencies

From June 12th to 14th, the WISA conference took place in Durban, South Africa. This three-day water management congress for Southern Africa had the theme “Turning the Tide.” As part of the Blue Deal initiative, we achieved the following:

  • Conducted workshops on Blue Deal collaborations, including a workshop on “Women in Water” in partnership with the World Water Academy.
  • Participated in the Wet Skills competition. Our Blue Deal team presented a case study, and four students from around the world delivered their final presentations during WISA.
  • Managed a joint booth with the Department of Water and Sanitation, where we connected with stakeholders during breaks.
  • Held meetings and established agreements with the Dutch ambassador and the Minister of Water and Sanitation in South Africa (joint Steering Committee).
  • And much more!

Memorable Moment: Establishment of Catchment Management Agencies

A significant and memorable moment was the official launch of waterschappen / Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs)) in South Africa. Over the past years, we’ve shared our experiences related to water resource management tasks, which contributed to thee establishment of CMAs in South Africa. Marion Wierda, CEO of Blue Deal South-Africa, played a crucial role alongside the minister and other dignitaries during this inaugural event. We highlighted the 750-year history of Dutch water boards. .

Previously, CMA responsibilities in South Africa were scattered across provinces and ministries. By creating these waterschappen, also known as Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs), we emphasize the importance of clean, sufficient and safe water. CMAs enable local, responsible management of water-related challenges. Together, we’re working towards resilient water management! More information?

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How to eat an elephant? Blesbokspruit work visit June 2024

The Blue Deal Blesbokspruit programme is characterized by three significant and yet very different and overlapping challenges: removing water hyacinth, improving water quality, and enabling job creation. It turns out to be a complex project with different tasks and responsibilities, making it difficult to prioritize and especially as to how to convert challenges into opportunities. Conducting interviews with the separate partner and interested and affected committees linked to this, a renewed stakeholder analysis has provided new and refreshed insights.

The set goals and activities were then evaluated in a team session

It has been almost unanimously concluded that we are largely on the right track with the formulated activities. A key component here is the need for data, the interpretation of the data into information, and the sharing and workshopping thereof to arrive at agreed and prioritized guiding actionables. The new short term future focus is therefore on collecting and providing insights into the existing data that is spread across the various parties. Included in the visit by the Dutch team was a visit to an active gold mine, providinginsight into production process and the treatment of process water.

Smart land and water resource management: co-creating a collaborative opportunity

Smart land and water resource management.pdfThe Blue Deal Programme has taken steps to be more conscious of climate change in all the work that is being done to meet the 2030 goals. This effort is most seen in the inclusion of the KIWI Climate Game Changers to the programme.

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Working visit Msunduzi Umgeni River and WISA 2024: a fortuitous and rewarding combination

The working visit by Dutch colleagues had the opportunity to combine with WISA 2024, and this opportunity proved to be an excellent combination. Besides WISA and the contacts we made there, we visited Adopt a River projects together with the Dutch ambassador. The Blue Deal Msunduzi-Umgeni River project team were able to show during multiple partner and stakeholder engagements as to how important this project is for the greater Durban area, both during the working visit and also at a high level reception later that week. And then also connect various relations to contribute to the project's objectives.

More Blue Deal Msunduzi-Umgeni River project project highlights:

  • We had a meeting with eThekwini Municipality on the functioning of early warning systems in the catchment. During the previous work visit it became clear that a lot of organisations (including eThekwini Municipality, uMngeni-uThukela Water, DWS) are creating and maintaining their own kind of (community based) early warning systems. The Blue Deal goal is to align all these efforts on early warning systems to work efficiently and effectively to prevent socio-economical catastrophes and save lives where possible.
  • We also spent time during the work visit to prepare the workshops that are scheduled for the work visit in October 2024. Together with the UEIP and stakeholders from the Water Research Committee (WRC) and WWF we concluded to support local needs by organizing workshops on climate change & adaptation, and on proposal writing, and on. The workshops are aimed at supporting young professionals in the organizations Blue Deal is partnering with. The workshops will hopefully contribute to a healthy Msunduzi-Umgeni River

Contract signed for cleaning solid waste in Villiersdorp

The Theewaterskloof Local Municipality has recently appointed a contractor to clean the streets in the informal settlements of Villiersdorp. This includes the important streams and wetlands in Villiersdorp, which all ultimately drain in to the City of Cape Town’s single largest fresh water reservoir, Theewaterskloof Dam. The contractor has started immediately.

This is an important step for the Blue Deal Theewaterskloof project of which the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality is a key and leading local partner. The goals of the Blue Deal Theewaterskloof project are:

  • To improve the sanitation services in informal settlements (piloted at the town of Villiersdorp)
  • To diminish solid waste pollution of the environment (piloted at the town of Grabouw).

Reaching goals 1 and 2 through community enrolment, and in a community beneficial manner which accesses and supports the circular economy approach.

This was a great contribution to 2024; we will have more goals to achieve and share in the coming months!

Exciting next steps after our Climate Adaptation Webinar of March 2024

With a nod to the organizers, notably Ms. Yota Mingo of the Dutch Water Authorities, Ms. Minenhle Nene of the Netherlands Embassy, and Dr John Dini of the WRC, during March 2024, Blue Deal hosted an excellent webinar on Climate Adaptation. This well attended webinar shared insights from local projects and national and international specialists.

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