Business Case forthe Pongola-Umzimkulu Catchment Management ...

Business Case for the Pongola-Umzimkulu Catchment Management Agency
Board member, will be established to assist the Technical Committee to consult with and
involve the stakeholders on strategic and water resources related issues.
10.6 Appointment of CEO
A CEO must be appointed for the Pongola-Umzimkulu CMA. It is proposed that the
remuneration of the CEO should not exceed that of a Chief Director in the government
service, except with the express written permission of the Minister of Water and
Environmental Affairs.
11 Risk
Given an understanding of the nature of the initiative and the purpose of establishment of
the Pongola-Umzimkulu CMA, it is useful to articulate some of the key implementation risks.
Managing these risks becomes a central function of the CMA and of DWA in its oversight
and regulatory role.
11.1.1 Complexity of the project
This water management area is complex. Management of the area will require balancing the
needs of the industrial sector with poor andmarginalized communities who rely on rain fed
subsistence agriculture. Management will require a high level of technical skills and
understanding, as well as social and economic analysis capacity, and the ability to drive
transformation in the water sector in the catchment with a particular focus on redress and
meeting the needs of poor communities while ensuring allocation some of the largest
industrial and agricultural complexes in South Africa. The issue of capacity is dealt with
below.
11.1.2 Spheres of Government
Both Local and Provincial Government have a key role to play in ensuring effective water
management in the water management area. The boundaries of the water management
area roughly coincide with the political boundaries of provincial and local government, and
the CMA will need to ensure effective relationships with relevant local authorities and the
provincial departments to ensure a proper understanding of the role, boundaries and
purpose of the CMA. Buy-in, coordination and cooperation between the three spheres of
government are pre-requisites for achieving optimal water management in the area.
11.1.3 Stakeholder acceptability
The CMA establishment puts forward a new “business model” based on a public entity for
water resources managementacross three WMAs. In addition to government, it is key that
this new model is accepted by stakeholders, both current water users and would-be water
users across the area of jurisdiction.
11.1.4 Delegation of powers and functions
The service delivery relates to the rate at which water resources management functions are
delegated to the CMA. The risk is that the capacity may not be in place to implement these
delegations across the whole WMA, and so the transfer and recruitment of staff and
building of capacity must be done in a way that aligns with the need to implement these
delegations.
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