TULANI NGWENYA
DELMAS : The delegation of power to issue water use licenses from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) head office in Pretoria to its regional offices and to catchment management agencies was signed into effect by the acting Director-General of the DWS, Ms Deborah Mochotlhi, on 16 February 2021. This key strategic measure will speed up the turnaround time for the finalization of water use license applications from 300 to 90 days.In accordance with the Vulindlela Programme established by the presidency and following a critical announcement by the minister of human settlements, water and sanitation in 2020, expedited water use licensing processes was identified as key reform towards unlocking economic growth in South Africa. The delegation allows for low risk and low volume applications for water use licenses to be finalized in the respective regional offices of the DWS, as opposed to such applications having to be dealt with in Pretoria only. Applications that are of national importance and that pose a high risk to water resources will continue to be dealt with at the DWS’s head office. Agri SA has welcomed the signing into effect of critical delegations to fact-track applications for water use licenses. “Agri SA welcomes this critical step by the DWS towards the fast-tracking of water use licensing applications,” says Janse Rabie, head of Agri SA’s Natural Resource Centre of Excellence. WaterAid an international non governmental organization has pointed out that, “Growing industrialization, and emerging economies increases demand for water, placing pressure on domestic and agricultural needs.” “We hope that, as the largest user of South Africa’s water resources, the agricultural sector will benefit from this development,” said Janse Rabie. He went on to say that, “We also wish to extend our thanks and congratulations to the South African Association of Water Users’ Associations, in particular Mr Nic Knoetze, for their invaluable work in this regard over the past two years.”
WaterAid has warned that, “The existing climate change scenario predicts by 2030, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will force between 24 million 700 million people to leave their homes.”
