Water privatisation in South Africa is a contentious issue, given the history of

denial Denial, in ordinary English usage, has at least three meanings: asserting that any particular statement or allegation is not true (which might be accurate or inaccurate); the refusal of a request; and asserting that a true statement is not true. ...

of access to water and persisting poverty.

Water privatisation Water privatization is short for private sector participations in the provision of water services and sanitation. Water privatization has a variable history in which its popularity and favorability has fluctuated in the market and politics. One ...

has taken many different forms in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Since 1996 some municipalities decided to involve the private sector in water and sanitation service provision through short-term management contracts, long-term

concession Concession may refer to: General * Concession (contract) (sometimes called a concession agreement), a contractual right to carry on a certain kind of business or activity in an area, such as to explore or develop its natural resources or to opera ...

s and contracts for specific services such as

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...

. Most municipalities continue to provide water and

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

services through public utilities or directly themselves.

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

of France, through its subsidiary Water and Sanitation Services South Africa (WSSA), and

Sembcorp Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) is an energy and urban development company. Sembcorp's marine division provided a variety of services, including the engineering and construction of offshore platforms for oil extraction, until it was demerged ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, through its subsidiary Silulumanzi, are international firms with contracts in South Africa. According to the Managing Director of Silulumanzi "the South African water market is still in its infancy and municipalities are unsure of how to engage the private sector."Marius van Aardt:A south African story:Silulumanzi's perspective, in: Transforming the World of Water, Global Water Summit 2010, Global Water Intelligence and International Desalination Association, p. 156-157

Cases of water privatisation

Dolphin Coast (iLembe)

In January 1999, the Siza Water Company (SWC), then part of the French SAUR Group, became the first private company to manage a water and wastewater utility in South Africa. Under a groundbreaking 30-year concession contract, SWC assumed responsibility for providing water and sanitation services to what was then known as the Borough of Dolphin Coast, a locality in the

iLembe District Municipality iLembe is one of the 11 district municipalities of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The seat of iLembe is KwaDukuza. The majority (82%) of its 606,809 people speak Zulu as their first language (2011 census). The district code is DC29. It ...

with a permanent population estimated at 34,000 located about 50 kilometers north of Durban. The privatisation was welcomed and supported by the city council and senior government officials, including President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

who visited the area to sanction the process. The

Development Bank of Southern Africa The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Communi ...

and the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit supported the development and completion of the concession arrangement by providing technical and advisory services during the conception and contract development phase. This helped to make this option understandable and financially feasible. SWC is a local company formed by Saur International of France (which holds a 58% share), four other companies and company employees. After initial difficulties the contract was renegotiated in 2001, including a substantial reduction in investment requirements and the provision of free basic water. A more accurate billing and collection system has led to an increase in revenues of 68%, while tariffs were increased by about 30% and the number of customers increased by 6%. In May 2007, SWC became a subsidiary of the British firm Cascal N.V. and in October 2012 it became part of the Sembcorp group from Singapore.

Nelspruit (Mbombela)

In 1999 the municipality of

Nelspruit Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

(ex-East Transvaal) signed a 30-year concession with the Greater Nelspruit Utility Company (GNUC), a subsidiary of Cascal, itself part of the British firm

Biwater Biwater International Limited provides large-scale water and wastewater treatment solutions. It has completed over 25,000 projects in over 90 countries. Adrian White, CBE, founded Biwater in 1968, and is the Executive Chairman. White is also the ...

. The concession serves 350,000 people in

and neighboring townships. GNUC subsequently changed its name to Silulumanzi. In July 2010 it was sold to Sembcorp of Singapore. According to the private concessionnaire, in the first two years of the concession thousands of unregistered connections were found and many household and mains leaks repaired. The savings have enabled water delivery to other areas not previously supplied. Over 8,000 broken meters have been replaced and a further 15,000 new meters have been installed to provide new house connections and formalise existing unauthorised supplies. Total water supplied into distribution fell from 66,000 m3/day to 60,000, despite an increase of over 30% of customers supplied. This was achieved by reducing

non-revenue water Non revenue water (NRW) is water that has been produced and is "lost" before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses (through leaks, sometimes also referred to as physical losses) or apparent losses (for example through theft or meterin ...

. Traditional political protests had involved non-payment of water bills so that a change in culture was required. Facilitators have worked in the villages and townships educating, discussing and encouraging the regular payment of water and sewage bills. Besides meetings with elected representatives, they engage in street theatre and sports sponsorship. Also local offices have been established throughout the concession area to provide easy access for customers to pay their bills, raise queries, deal with complaints and report leaks. As a result, revenue collection has substantially improved. Furthermore, the portion of households with access to basic water supply increased from 52% in 1999 to 88% in 2009. In formalised urban areas, 24-hour supply has been extended to 82% of households, up from 37% in 1999.

Johannesburg

In January 2001, the city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

established the municipal company

Johannesburg Water Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and subsequently signed a management contract with Water and Sanitation Services South Africa (WSSA), a joint venture between

(ex-Lyonnaise des Eaux), its subsidiary Northumbrian Water Group and the South African company Group 5. The contract was not extended when it expired in 2006.

Other cases

In 2003, WSSA also had a 25- year concession in

Queenstown, Eastern Cape Queenstown, officially Komani, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom on the N6 National Route. The town was established in 1853 and is curr ...

and provided water and wastewater services to over 2 million people in the provinces of

Kwa-Zulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

(Dolphin Coast),

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

(including in

Stutterheim Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in South Africa, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim. History The area's earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups r ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

and

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

.Suez
/ref>

References

External links

Clarissa Brocklehurst, WSP Afric
Durban Metro Water Private Sector Partnerships to Serve the Poor
May 2001 The Water Dialogues-South Africa, case studies of various forms of privatisation in South Africa (including Ilembe/ Siza Water concession, Johannesburg's management contract, and others