Progress with Water Allocation Reform in South Africa - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 368

water resource management. Inputs from this group were used to refine the document,
which was then presented to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for
endorsement and a mandate to table this paper for public discussion. Permission was
given to solicit comment from the department prior to its public dissemination.
Presentations were made to 17 business units within the department. Additional
presentations were made to the National Water Advisory Council (NWAC), an advisory
committee to the minister and to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, a political
oversight body of government. Comments were invited from these groups, and a final
draft position paper was prepared along with a consolidated comments/ response report.
This was re-submitted to the governing structures of the department in November 2004,
for endorsement as a formal draft DWAF discussion document to be made available for
public comment.
The Minister formally launched this draft and announced the commencement of the
WAR programme in April 2005. The workshop was used to introduce stakeholders to the
document and to solicit their inputs on its content. Feedback from this first workshop and
a further nine provincial workshops, completed in July and August 2005, will be used to
update the draft position paper, which will then be presented to the department for a final
decision on the way forward.
The workshops held in each of South Africa's nine provinces were organised by
nominated lead agents who have been designated the “Regional WAR Champions”.
Their role is one of coordination, facilitation and leadership of the programme within
their respective constituencies. In preparing these champions for their roles, specialised
training sessions have been developed to equip them with the appropriate skills and
competencies to carry out their functions. Some of the competencies included: arranging
workshop logistics, preparation, presentation, facilitation and conflict resolution skills.
Workshop attendance ranged from approximately 60 to 200 delegates per workshop
and documented proceedings are in the process of finalisation. Media coverage, both
radio and print, of the workshops was satisfactory to good. Delegates' participation in
discussions was excellent and many difficult political issues were raised.
6. Progress: Phase II — implementation
The backbone of this phase is the “Toolkit for Water Allocation Reform — A Manual
to help Achieve Race and Gender Equity in Water Allocations” and the Regional WAR
Champions. This phase addresses the coordinated implementation of NWA activities as a
coherent approach towards achieving the goals and objectives of the programme at a local
and regional level. It is also intended to ensure the effective implementation of the NWA,
as articulated constitutionally and in the National Water Policy.
The Toolkit for Water Allocation Reform
Draft 4 of the “Toolkit for Water Allocation Reform” was presented to the department
in July 2005, with a request for its internal roll-out, for comments, further inputs and
refinement. The draft Position Paper forms the basis of the toolkit and outlines practical
methods for WAR implementation. It also uses practical examples to demonstrate water
allocation projects that illustrate the steps that can be followed to give effect to water
allocation reform.