UBUNTU-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP AS A CORNERSTONE FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE AND TRANSFORMATION

Working together for the greater good under strong leadership and with all parties fulfilling their roles will enable service delivery organisations, such as Magalies Water, to perform and deliver on their constitutional mandate, shares

The local government sphere, which is at the coalface of service delivery, has been marred with numerous challenges, including inadequate supply of water. The inability to deal with this results in soaring water demand, which creates pressure on the supply systems, and water losses due to ageing infrastructure caused by maintenance backlogs. Many of these remain unresolved because of financial constraints. Municipalities constitute a large customer base for many water boards in the country, therefore their inability to pay for bulk water supply poses a threat to institutions such as ours, which are not funded through the national fiscus.

South Africa’s water demand has grown exponentially, and this poses a threat to water security with serious socioeconomic ramifications that can disrupt everyone’s way of life. In 2021, Statistics South Africa in a document titled “Official Guide to South Africa 2020/21 People of South Africa” estimated the country’s population at 60.14 million people.

With over 22 strategic water areas and 223 river ecosystems, South Africa has been identified as a water-scarce country and the 30th driest in the world.

Exacerbating the growing water demand are the uneven rainfall patterns, compounded by consistently soaring temperatures in the inland provinces, including where Magalies Water operates, which creates a consistently growing water demand. This has over time pressured our infrastructure, which has been pushed to the limits to ensure that communities within our area of supply have access to clean, drinking water. Universal access to water cannot be left at the doorstep of government alone, with other strategic stakeholders being spectators of an issue that has a bearing on the economy and welfare of the millions of working and nonworking South Africans.

Magalies Water has commissioned research and made plans to deal with the soaring water demand in the North West and, more particularly, the Bojanala Platinum District. To this end, we have concluded studies that show how we can increase our bulk water supply to the municipalities with which we have a formal working relationship. The greatest challenge remains in our inability to commence with capital projects due to financial constraints. This emanates from skyrocketing outstanding debt owed to us by some municipalities. Notwithstanding that access to water is a basic human right, other sectors of government have an important role to play in encouraging communities to pay for services, which in turn, will enable us to expand our bulk infrastructure in pursuance of responding to the water issue.

GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS, THANKS TO SOUND LEADERSHIP

We are proud that Magalies Water has been able to register remarkable progress in addressing the water issue through the refurbishment and expansion of some of our water treatment plants, despite the challenges that beset the sector. In the last two financial years (2019/20 and 2020/21), the organisation has achieved two clean audits. This happened at a time when women leaders were given space to make a meaningful contribution to the organisation’s strategic objectives. The highly experienced former member of the national assembly, Pinky Mokoto, leads our board. Mokoto also has a solid track record in the local government sphere. During the aforementioned financial period, Magalies Water attained an average of 92 per cent performance – not an easy accomplishment.

Further to this, our chief financial officer, Matshidiso Tabane, together with colleagues from internal and external audit and the board’s finance committee, have played a critical role in ensuring that Magalies Water remains financially viable and meets all the set strategic objectives. We believe that the boardroom is not the place for men only; when capable and qualified women are given an opportunity to lead and serve, their qualities

WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY, AND ARE PROUD OF THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY WOMEN ON OUR BOARD AS WELL AS THE MANAGEMENT TEAM. THIS SHOWS THAT TIMES HAVE CHANGED, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY AND ABILITY TO DELIVER KNOWS NO GENDER.

can always add value to the work that an organisation intends to carry out. We have come a long way, and are proud of the contribution made by women on our board as well as the management team. This shows that times have changed, and the responsibility and ability to deliver knows no gender.

THE SPIRIT OF UBUNTU

Ubuntu is a sense of belonging to a collective. The existence of shared values and ideals can bring about the greater good. For this country not to fail its people, we all must play an active role to ensure that water boards, such as magalies Water, are enabled to perform and deliver on their constitutional mandate. We cannot afford to fail as that would compromise the economy and, more specifically, jobs in the mining and agricultural sector.

Our municipal councils need to be more present in engaging communities and the local business sector through prioritising revenue collection. This will create the necessary shift to alter the downward trajectory that has been reported in the media fraternity around service delivery challenges. Partnerships should not be relegated to funding initiatives that are aimed at undertaking infrastructure development projects only, but also those with a social and moral basis. We need to be working together to understand some of the current challenges that affect the service delivery value chain to the extent that development cannot occur at a rapid pace.

Councils need to open their arms to include other strategic partners that will work alongside them to map a way forward. This will give the public confidence in knowing how issues of effective service delivery can be achieved. Funding remains the biggest challenge, and this cannot be resolved without public participation and community support.

Communities need to understand the detrimental effect of not paying for services, as well as the impact of damage to public infrastructure during unrests and how that will affect them as end-users. Public education campaigns are essential to sway public opinion on critical issues relating to service delivery. When infrastructure development underpins all of our shared vision for universal access to water, economic opportunities are likely to follow the development. With government’s housing projects, construction of roads and other social amenities, communities have an opportunity to be employed while contributing directly to their own development. This is how we can achieve total transformation in all the communities within our service area.

We need to join hands to support other role players by ensuring that infrastructural bottlenecks that arise out of financial limitations are resolved for the benefit of communities, the business sector and civil society. The National Development Plan (NDP 2030) is emphatic about reducing inequalities that includes access to basic services. For us to achieve this we should not allow the local government sector to collapse as many of our people rely on the municipalities for services that cannot be sourced easily elsewhere, without increasing the inequality gap between households.

WE NEED TO JOIN HANDS TO SUPPORT OTHER ROLE PLAYERS BY ENSURING THAT INFRASTRUCTURAL BOTTLENECKS THAT ARISE OUT OF FINANCIAL LIMITATIONS ARE RESOLVED FOR THE BENEFIT OF COMMUNITIES, THE BUSINESS SECTOR AND CIVIL SOCIETY.