2017 Report on the State of the Department of Water and Sanitation by the South African Water Caucus

This 2017 report provides an overview of the institutional and governance challenges that subsist and in many aspects have, arguably, deteriorated in the Department of Water and Sanitation.

In summation, the central challenges facing the Department relate to human resources (including capacity constraints, high staff turnover and vacancy rates and suspension of senior management), poor financial management (including overspending, accruals and corruption allegations), considerable policy and institutional uncertainty and incoherence, major challenges to institutions that are critical for water governance (including Water Boards and Catchment Management Agencies), deterioration in waste water treatment works and infrastructure due to lack of maintenance and investment and significant deficiencies in reporting, compliance monitoring and enforcement.

SAWC – Report into the State of the Department of Water and Sanitation (2017)