The Water Research Commission expands its footprint in the Northern Cape

It’s an opportunity to formalise strategic relationships with key partners in the province for continuous WRC support

1.1 Background
The Water Research Commission (WRC) hosted a Provincial Roadshow in Kimberley from 12 to 14 March 2024 as part of National Water Week activities. This Roadshow was a follow-up engagement linked to the previous strategic engagements held with the Northern Cape (NC) Province in June, July and September 2023. The Northern Cape Province has been prioritised by the WRC as it is one of the driest provinces in South Africa, with an average annual rainfall of about 200mm. The scarcity of water resources is a defining feature of this arid environment, and behavioural change in water consumption will contribute immensely towards improving the water situation in the province.

The Provincial Roadshow was based on the WRC strategy, which is outcomes driven and, in this regard, outcome 4 looks at empowered and influenced stakeholders. Achievement of this outcome requires that the WRC, among other activities, establishes impactful channels of communication with stakeholders for sharing relevant information, actively listening to their feedback and suggestions; and building relationships and creating opportunities for collaborative problem-solving sessions. It is on this basis that the WRC undertook to engage NC stakeholders during National Water Week while partnering with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Sol Plaatje University and District and Local municipalities in the NC province.

During the WRC initial engagements with NC province, it emerged that the WRC needeed to strengthen relations with multiple stakeholders in the province to assist with research-related interventions based on the water and sanitation challenges presented. Of great importance is the sharing of available knowledge products and innovations to respond to the needs of the province.

The WRC Provincial Roadshow should be viewed as a platform to empower municipalities in the province with research-based tools available to solve several issues relating to water, including wastewater treatment failures, non-compliance to drinking water quality standards and groundwater management, to name a few. Furthermore, and upon engaging stakeholders in the province, there are severe capacity challenges, and, in some cases, there is a lack of relevant personnel in key positions such as process controllers, water quality monitoring practitioners, sanitation management specialists, etcetera. In this regard, the WRC has conducted research and produced guidelines that could assist in areas such as Water Safety Plans and Wastewater Risk Abatement Plans for Water Service Authorities (WSAs) that could be taken up by such personnel as an effective empowerment tool.

Another area of great concern that arose from prior provincial engagements is the issue of poor revenue collection, which emanates from lack of proper water metering accompanied by poor analysis of socioeconomic conditions of customers and, in some cases, poor asset register management. This does not exclude tariff setting challenges. Over and above these conditions, groundwater management, if mastered correctly, could become a key alternative resource for providing water in stressed environments. Groundwater depletion during droughts poses a huge challenge to most areas of the Northern Cape Province.

Lastly, at the centre of water scarcity challenges lies the sanitation problem. The sanitation challenge has been exacerbated by extreme climate and water conservation, with non-sewered sanitation systems and innovative tools proving their capability to incorporate water-saving or water-recycling technologies. Diversified approaches are required to balance water supply and demand and there is a need to explore such innovations at a municipal level.

1.1 Innovation Technology Demonstration
The Provincial Roadshow served as a strategic knowledge and information sharing platform, which brought together provincial stakeholders and demonstrated innovative solutions that have been tested in the water and sanitation sector. It also linked various stakeholders operating at different stages of the water and sanitation innovation value chain in the NC province, and sought to strengthen the cooperation and coordination within the provincial stakeholders at different institutions.

1.2 Aim of the Provincial Roadshow
The Provincial Roadshow served as a platform for engagement between the WRC and NC Province stakeholders and provided a conduit for demonstrating the WRC products and innovations as possible solutions to the identified challenges. The Northern Cape province has a variety of urgent interventions required to solve existing core challenges. The Roadshow also presented an opportunity to formalise strategic relationships with key partners in the province for continuous WRC support.

1.3 Expected outcomes
Raise profile of the WRC as a knowledge and innovation partner in the Northern Cape Province.
Identify areas of cooperation around WRC research programmes linked to the province’s priorities.
Profile the WRC innovation tools that could be taken to scale.
Establish partnerships with Northern Cape stakeholders.

1.4 Logistical arrangements
The provincial Roadshow took place from 12 to 14 March 2024 at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.

1.5 Participants
The Provincial Roadshow drew multiple stakeholders, including the WRC Board, Executives and the Stakeholders and Communications Team, representatives from local, provincial and national governments, local authorities, academics and financial institutions, NGOs, independent experts and enterprise and farmers associations, small enterprise owners and emerging farmers.

Arid Water Centre of Excellence to be established at Sol Plaatje University

The centre will strengthen the Northern Cape’s water and sanitation resilience

The Water Research Commission (WRC) will invest R25 million into the establishment of an Arid Water Centre of Excellence at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in Kimberley, to expand and share knowledge in the water sector.
The funds will be utilised in instalments of R5 million per annum over the next five years. This announcement was made during the WRC Provincial Roadshow that took place at the university on 12 and 13 March 2024.

The workshop was attended by officials from the WRC, SPU and several government departments, including the Northern Cape Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), the provincial department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). There were also representatives from the Water Institute South Africa (WISA), Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA).

The workshop was held under the theme of “Strengthening provincial water and sanitation resilience through research and innovations”.

Chief Executive Officer of the WRC Dr Jennifer Molwantwa said SPU was identified as a key catalytic partner at local level to not only introduce new innovations in water and sanitation to the province, but also to find custom-made solutions to its challenges.

“Sol Plaatje University is a new university. The WRC in the past has funded and established water capabilities in other universities such as Wits, Stellenbosch, University of Pretoria and University of Cape Town (UCT). We looked at how we capacitate at SPU. We have agreed with SPU that we want to establish an Arid Water Centre of Excellence.

“One of the key areas and low-hanging fruits will be the training of municipality officials, such as process controllers and water quality officers, in order to bring colleagues in one room and provide training, or teach and train the trainer. Officials will then understand what are the common challenges and how to resolve these problems,” said Molwantwa.

“We will be using our coordinating power to bring in officials from better performing municipalities to partner and assist. We saw that water in the Northern Cape was a challenge, but there was no centre of excellence that could find a solution or study possible solutions to this challenge. When looking at the developed or older universities, one finds that most of them have a water centre. Some of them are even funded by private companies because research around water is so important.

“We also saw with the Green Drop and Blue Drop results that Northern Cape municipalities performed the lowest. We then decided to establish an Arid Water Centre where we would be training local government employees. Groundwater development in the Northern Cape is a key aspect that has to be well explored to support the communities in the province.

“We will work with WISA and the university to do formal training. With WISA we got Continued Professional Development (CPD), so we are able to train people who are already in the workforce. The university will provide training in terms of the higher education standards in order for people to secure a qualification. We also secured the partnership from IMESA and MISA, who will support the engineers within municipalities with the various challenges they might be facing in terms of training.”

Molwantwa added: “We need a holistic approach in order to solve the challenges of water shortages in the province. We are faced with a water challenge, but we should not let a crisis go to waste, but rather examine how our innovations, systems and tools are working during these challenges.”

The CEO said the mission and work of WRC will also be highlighted during the period of the partnership.
“We want to bring in a director to the centre who will not only understand the vision of the WRC, but also understand the challenges the WRC is trying to resolve in the province. Research development and innovation gets done by universities, and universities must support the province and its people on the ground when it comes to innovation and technology and decision-making. The WRC cannot boast that as a 50-year-old organisation we have a number of technologies that are doing well. We talk about what we are doing in the City of Johannesburg and the City of Ethekwini, yet where the real crises are, we are nowhere to be seen. We are hoping that through this partnership we will make inroads and a difference in the lives of the people,” she said.

WRC Acting Executive and Stakeholder and Communications, Dr Valerie Naidoo, said the centre will speedily address the challenges experienced in the water sector of the Northern Cape.

“When you have a strong university, it can build the right skill sets, and it provides experts who can guide and advise where there are real challenges. We (WRC) said we will work with the university as a good collaborative partner and encourage the university to work with the municipalities. We found that in a lot of spaces in the water sector, the governance and the decision making requires deepening relationships in order to have a conversation without people feeling territorial or wondering if you are trying to sell [them] something.

“The relationship should be grounded in finding the right solutions. South Africans have taken bold steps as a country and we have an innovative streak in us, where we are not afraid to try something new. We acknowledge we do have a resource constraint in terms of water, but underpinning that resource constraint are the issues of low economic development and historical inequity, including poverty.

“Furthermore, the skills shortages may be resolved by building new skills such as groundwater practitioners at the university, as well as using new institutional models to work with NGOs and the private sector to enhance skills. We need to have the right conversations with decision-makers to provide additional options.”

Naidoo added the studies conducted might well inspire a relook at the traditional ways things were done.
WRC Group Executive Manager of Research & Development, Professor Stanley Liphadzi, who signed a Letter of Partnership Intent with WISA CEO Dr Lester Goldman and IMESA President Sibusiso Mjwara, said the centre will ensure that municipal officials have greater insight into their daily duties.

“Through this centre, we will rejuvenite the ground-zero municipalities in the province to become better performing institutions,” Liphadzi said.

He said that the weather conditions and climate change patterns of the province will also be studied at the centre.
“This partnership will assist local municipalities in ensuring that people are not flooded. We will be able to prepare for climate [change] and empower communities in order for this beautiful nature not to become a curse,” Liphadzi said.
Goldman said the centre will empower municipal officials: “We need to invest in individuals in order for them to become power agents in the preservation of this precious commodity, water. We have seen the gaps and lack of skills that exist in municipalities.This centre will mitigate the challenges in municipalities as it will equip municipal employees with the required skills and knowledge to do their work.”

Mjwara said that different approaches on how to deal with the unique water challenges of the province will be studied.
“The Northern Cape is a very dry province, which requires a different type of approach when it comes to water preservation. We will conduct research on other available water bodies that we can find in the province,” said Mjwara.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of SPU, Professor Debra Meyer, said they are elated about their partnership with the WRC, as it addresses several challenges faced in communities and those faced by municipality officials employed in the water sector.

Provincial Director of Operations for SALGA, Madeleine Brandt, said the centre will address the challenge of the shortage of skills in local municipalities: “We need more education in water preservation, as it is a life source to all. The centre will bring in much-needed skills required in local government, from planning to implementation. We will also be able to utilise the data from the centre for the betterment of our water provision and the quality of our water.”

Innovators get a helping hand from WRC

The Commission helps to broker the manufacturing of their products and provides them with marketing skills and knowledge

The immeasurable assistance from the Water Research Commission (WRC) had the tongues of young innovators wagging as they relayed what role the WRC has played in making their dreams a reality.

Eight innovators who had designed sanitation and agriculture products were granted the opportunity to exhibit them during the WRC Provincial Workshop that took place at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley on 12 to 13 March 2024.
The innovators all commended the WRC for not only investing large amounts of money into helping them manufacture their products, but also for equipping them with the skills and knowledge to market them.

The founder of Loo Afrique, Rori Mpete, said he never thought that by merely answering a call from the WRC would have put him in contact with the clientele he sells his water-saving toilets and urinals to.

“The WRC has what they term ‘calls’ where they are, for example, looking for people who have knowledge in the water and sanitation space, water efficiency or recycling solutions. The call will ask the innovator what exactly it is they want to manufacture, where the product will work and how much is required to manufacture it. Every call has its own cap, depending on what you are developing. Innovators can peruse the WRC website for the calls, because every year they are seeking new people to call on,” said Mpete.

He added: “Some innovators think that developing a product entails taking it to a hardware store after completion. However, not every product is meant to be sold that way. For us to engage with municipalities and South African Local Government Association (SALGA), officials from the Department of Infrastructure including the Northern Cape provincial government at this close level gives us a platform that brings the entire province to us. I don’t know how many calls we would have had to make to get an audience with only one of these people present at this workshop.

“The WRC has played a huge role in marketing the solutions and innovations they develop. If I was to come without any backing from the WRC, the use of the innovation might fall on deaf ears, but when we come and say we are part of the WRC and an affiliated partner to the Water Demonstration Research Program of South Africa, it gives us credibility. The WRC not only gave us the funds to build the product, but also the funds to pilot it,” said Mpete.

The CEO and founder of Envirosan Sanitation Solutions, Brian Lewis, said the WRC has been instrumental in funding their easy-flush toilets: “The WRC has a very good finger on the pulse of how the private sector works. They have been extremely valuable in the space of research and allocation of pilots. Without the WRC these projects would not take place.”

One of the co-founders of Agang Bokamoso Farms, Tumelo Pule, said with the assistance of the WRC they were able to see their product develop from what was once just an idea.

“The WRC has taken us from being a mere prototype into a fully-fledged company. They have funded our first commercial test site, which now plays a key role in the development of our company. When you sell new technology to prospective clients, they want to see a farm of the nature they want, and they want it to already be operational. As a lot of money is involved, we could not operate on promises. The farm that we are currently running is utilised as a showroom, to demonstrate to prospective clients that the system works,” said Pule.

“The WRC gave us tremendous exposure as we also had opportunities to exhibit our innovation overseas. We have been able to exhibit in Dubai and got clients from various parts of the African continent. There are a lot of skilled people within the organisation who have assisted us with business and technical knowledge to further develop our product.”

CEO Dr Jennifer Molwantwa said the WRC invests in innovators who have proved themselves worthy of addressing the challenges South Africa faces.

“The reason we believe we have to fund innovators is because we know they are there. We just have to call on them and show them the problem we want solved and ask them to come up with a solution. Generally innovators and entrepreneurs do not want a huge business out of something, they want to solve problems.

“When the innovation matures, we then work with entities such as the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), where we show them the potential for commercialisation of the innovators’ products and whether they can fund them. We carry out these steps to ensure that we take this technology from its inception phase and hopefully to the marketplace,” Molwantwa said.

She also acknowledged the funding partnerships of the Department of Science and Innovation and Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which have played a key role to enhance the WRC work on innovations.
She said one of the greatest challenges for innovators is securing buy-in from the government.

“What we found is that there is a stumbling block in the area where some of these technologies have the potential to create jobs. Especially in the sanitation space, we found that government entities, for example National Treasury, do not understand the economic stimulus that can be created by sanitation technology. The sanitation industry can be used as an economic stimulus in the same way as the motor industry.

“South Africa and India are leading in the sanitation industry and China is currently also being roped in, because people believe South Africa is not serious. We are not realising the potential of innovators. With these new innovative toilets, we will have great input into job creation, as people would be needed to manufacture, install and maintain these toilets. Also, these toilets will be exported throughout the world,” said the CEO.

“This will be similar to the concept of the installation of digital dishes. In the past we only had digital dishes in selected houses, but currently almost all households have a dish. How many people are employed in that industry, to install and maintain digital dishes?

“As South Africans we fail to see the gold in front of us. We are always lagging behind. We take solace in the fact that China and India will beat us to it, and we will buy these innovations from overseas. Until we see the value of the work we are doing in South Africa, history will judge us,” she said.

Molwantwa said the private sector has been more accommodating and supportive of innovators.

“Big companies are starting to adapt because they understand climate change and are installing smaller sanitation systems. Instead of grabbing this opportunity, government is dragging its feet. If we can get the department of human settlements to come on board and test as well as pilot these innovations, we will provide them with a solution on how to provide flushing toilets that use less water inside homes,” said the CEO.

“Perhaps one day we will wake up to appreciate these innovations. We also need to bear in mind that people that have not seen these innovations will find it difficult to understand them. Municipalities are listening to engineers who tell them that they need to build bulk infrastructure … but how does one place bulk infrastructure in a province such as the Northern Cape, where houses in some areas are located far from each other?” she asked.

Molwantwa urged communities to also not be opposed to innovators merely because they do not hail from the same provinces or cities.

‘Some people might be opposed to the fact that the innovators are not from their province. However they can work together with the innovators in order to ensure locals are trained to be installers, and people can be part of the production team and can also be trained as operators. One cannot come and demand ownership of the innovative idea: the intellectual property remains with the innovator. That is one of the challenges that has kept us back from marketing these products — but we are willing to buy toothpicks from China,” pointed out Molwantwa.

Custom-made solutions required to address water challenges in the Northern Cape

‘Of great importance is the sharing of available knowledge products and innovations to respond to the needs of the province’

Finding the correct design to address water shortages and rainfall patterns in the Northern Cape was discussed at length during the Provincial Roadshow hosted by the Water Research Commission (WRC) in partnership with other stakeholders at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) on Kimberley’s South Campus, on 12 and 13 March 2024.

The roadshow saw officials from the local and district municipality, officials from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Department of Water Affairs (DWS), Water Institute South Africa (WISA), Institute of Municipal Engineering of south Africa (IMESA) and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) collaboratively discuss innovative ways of addressing the water challenges in the province.

Chief Executive Officer of the WRC Dr Jennifer Molwantwa said each of the nine provinces in the country has their own unique challenges with regards to access to water.

Molwantwa said though some provinces may have some similar weather patterns and water challenges, local governments should not have a “one-size fits-all” approach when trying to address the challenges in the Northern Cape, as it is not practicable.

“As the WRC we provide advisory and support to areas where water provision is critical. We had to look at the research agenda and have the stakeholders state what are the challenges they are facing. The WRC will look at the key challenges where we can intervene. We will look and research which solution will be applicable and fit for purpose for the Northern Cape. That research findings will make a huge difference towards service delivery. The Northern Cape is very dry, sparse and rural in nature. During the WRC initial engagements with the Northern Cape province, it emerged that the WRC needs to strengthen the relations with multiple stakeholders in the province to assist with research-related interventions based on the water and sanitation challenges presented. Of great importance is the sharing of available knowledge products and innovations to respond to the needs of the province,” said Molwantwa.

She said a great concern when addressing challenges of water and sanitation is the lack of knowledge on how to apply possible solutions for the challenges.

“An area of great concern that arose from prior provincial engagements is the issue of poor revenue collection, which emanates from a lack of proper water metering accompanied by poor analysis of socioeconomic conditions of customers, and in some cases poor asset register management. This does not exclude tariff setting challenges.

“Over and above these conditions, groundwater management, if mastered correctly, could become a key alternative resource for providing water in stressed environments. Groundwater depletion during droughts poses a huge challenge to most areas of the Northern Cape Province. Groundwater development in the Northern Cape is a key aspect and has not been well enough explored to support the local communities.

“At the centre of water scarcity challenges lies the sanitation problem. The sanitation challenge has been exacerbated by extreme climate and water conservation, with non-sewered sanitation systems and innovative tools proving their capability to incorporate water-saving or water-recycling technologies. Diversified approaches are required to balance water supply and demand and there is a need to explore such innovations at a municipal level,” she said.

CoGHSTA MEC Bentley Vass said the province is mostly dependent on groundwater and the local government has been working around the clock to provide water to communities.

“Groundwater resources are particularly important in the Northern Cape, with its high evaporation and low and variable rainfall. The Northern Cape has 439 towns of which 72% (316) are reliant solely on groundwater. The National Water and Sanitation Master Plan commits the Department to implementing the National Groundwater Strategy, thereby promoting the use of groundwater on a larger scale. The focus is on supplying groundwater where it is a reliable supply for domestic and other uses.

“Furthermore, the province is largely dependent on water releases from the Bloemhof Dam and the Vanderkloof Dam further upstream for its two main surface water resources, the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The Orange River’s water is primarily available for domestic and industrial use. However, a few thousand hectares of water use entitlements have been reserved for historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs) in the agricultural sector,” said Vass.

He said the province already has measures in place to address some of the water shortage challenges.

“South Africa has signed the Ramsar Convention, which mandates the country to maintain the ecological integrity of the Orange River mouth by implementing environmental flow requirements. To fulfil this obligation, the Department of Water and Sanitation is in discussions with Namibia to enhance the yield of the Orange River. Joint planning studies conducted with Namibia have identified the construction of a dam in the lower Orange River, near Vioolsdrift, as a viable alternative to increase the available water yield. This site is situated on the common border between South Africa and Namibia and is envisioned as a joint development that would cater to the projected needs of both countries,” he said.

Vass added the establishment of Water Service authorities within municipalities has been beneficial in addressing water shortages.

“There is one water board operational in the Northern Cape, namely the Vaal Central Water Board. This water board operates mostly in the north-eastern part of the province, through the Vaal Gamagara scheme, and also small rural groundwater schemes in the Ga-Segonyana Municipal area. They also supply water to communities and small mines in the Nama Khoi Municipality. Namakwa Water experiences massive infrastructure refurbishment and operational problems, thus we welcome the fact that through the Ministerial directive, the Vaal Central Water Board has become involved in addressing the infrastructure refurbishment issues. All local and district municipalities in the province have been authorised as both water services authorities (WSAs) and water services providers (WSPs), hence there are a total of 31 Water Service Authorities.

“Key among our challenges is technical capacity, ageing infrastructure, financial resources for operation and maintenance as well as security at water treatment plants. We do however believe that improving technical capacity can be achieved by involving the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETAs) in the training of new artisans, but also by upskilling the current workforce, who in most cases have been working on the water treatment plants for years. We also rely on bodies such as the Water Research Commission to come up with innovative solutions, especially as it relates to sanitation. There is no doubt that by working together we can ensure that we continue to provide safe drinking water to our communities,” Vass said.

He added that DWS has been instrumental in assisting local municipalities secure funding to address and combat issues relating to water and sanitation.

“Much-needed support to our municipalities to combat water and sanitation services challenges has seen the Department of Water and Sanitation making available R28.5 million to develop business plans, technical reports and feasibility study reports so that the municipalities can apply for grant funding. The department has also developed a five-year reliable plan for the province and the municipalities. The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive implementation plan to achieve reliable water services for all the Water Services Authorities (WSAs) within five years. This will therefore assist our municipalities in improved planning for Operation and Maintenance, asset management, financial management for operation and maintenance, development of cost reflective tariffs and compilation of project priority lists to form part of the Water Services Development Plan.”

The Provincial Director of Operations for SALGA, Madeleine Brandt, commended the local government for prioritising the provision of water to communities.

Brandt however said some municipalities in the province need to prioritise the continuous education and practical training of its artisans in order to not only be able to address the challenges in the province speedily, but also to keep up with innovations and new technologies.

“We need more training of municipal artisans in order for them to keep up with the latest technology trends. We have also found that some municipalities employ one person for various duties. Employees are not granted an opportunity to revise their skills set and knowledge through education and training. The trends in the water sector have changed over the years, and we need to empower municipal employees in the water and annotation sector to be able to identify the problem and also come up with solutions on how to fix the problems.”