PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) embarked on, and is leading the initiative to develop the master plan, which is a plan intended to guide the water sector with investment planning for the development of water resources and the delivery of water and sanitation services over the horizon until 2030, and beyond. This development is a first for South Africa, and we must applaud all stakeholders involved for having finally taken this important step

The issue of water security for South Africa not only circumscribes the entire water sector, but also has far reaching consequences across the entire economy of South Africa. It touches on growth and development of all sectors of our economy. There is another initiative called the National Integrated Water Security Framework, which is driven by the National Planning Commission. This is in recognition of the importance of water security for in our country. In the context of the master plan, water security touches on many facets, including identifying future water sources for our growing population and the attendant future water resources development options, the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure, the proper management of our water quality, Water Supply Services, Resilience of our country to Climate Change Impacts and Water Conservation and Water Demand Management.

Within the framework of the water security initiative, our Cabinet identified the need to develop a comprehensive integrated master plan, which will incorporate and coordinate relevant water sector plans available from the many, sources and initiatives. The core purpose of the NW&SMP is to provide an overall perspective of the scope of the water and sanitation business to provide a comprehensive schedule of actions needed to address present challenges, to estimate the investments required to ensure effective water resources, and water and sanitation services delivery, as well as to facilitate effective integrated investment planning, implementation of actions and evaluation of achievements.

The master plan is the plan that identifies key actions in the water sector and allocates roles and responsibilities to all in the water sector, from the various tiers of government, the private sector and other stakeholders for the implementation of the plan.

The master plan will include a list of key programmes, projects and actions to be implemented for the protection and development of the national water resources, and for the provision of adequate and reliable water and sanitation services for all citizens. It will also address the enabling requirements, such as the institutional and legal arrangements for implementation, operation and maintenance, funding requirements and models, and monitoring and evaluation models.

It is very vital that the NW&SMP is developed collectively by all key role players and service delivery authorities in the water and sanitation sector, and that it enjoys their full support, acceptance and agreement.

A key challenge to all which has somehow hampered our capacity to deliver is the issues around Institutional & Funding Arrangements for Water & Sanitation. Such issues touch on policies and legislation and Strategies, the institutional arrangements, and funding financing options. Lets work to form partnerships to input into the master plan. Local Management & Stakeholder Participation, cost recovery and Water and Sanitation Governance as important considerations.

The NW&SMP is currently in preparation and is constantly being updated during this process. This web site contains the latest revisions of the available documentation forming part of the NW&SMP, which includes the following key elements:

• Volume 1: Call to Action (a summary document highlighting only the key challenges and the key actions required for their resolution)
• Volume 2: Plan to Action (Full NW&SMP document)
• Volume 3: Schedule of actions (not available yet)

Inputs from all stakeholders, interested and affected parties will be most appreciated during any stage of the development of the NW&SMP. If you wish to submit a comment, please use the dedicated comments page.

Through the regional consultations that took place from 19 January 2018 to 29 January 2018 further documentation were requested.

The documents are:

• The Presentation Presented in this period and
• The National Water Investment framework
• SA's RDI Roadmap 2015-2025