“The rural water voice - Learning through sharing for sustainable rural water services management” 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF1

FORMAT OF PRESENTATION  BACKGROUND TO THE DWSMF  Formation & Membership  Goals & Objectives  Activities  PEER REVIEWS  Context & Objectives  Review Areas  Process  Outcomes & Benefits  CONCLUSION 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF2

DWSMF: Formation & Membership  Formed in June 2004  Is an information sharing and learning network of water services Managers from District Municipalities that are Water Services Authorities  Membership of 22 District Municipalities (Eastern Cape, North West, KZN, & Limpompo Provinces) (Eastern Cape, North West, KZN, & Limpompo Provinces) 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF3

DWSMF: Formation & Membership  Members share unique challenges of ensuring the delivery of water services in vast geographical areas that are mainly rural, predominantly poor and with huge service backlogs.  Sector Partners: DWA, WIN-SA/WRC, COGTA, SALGA, DHS & NT 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF4

DWSMF: Goals & Objectives  Learn from each other through sharing of experiences when implementing policy and legislation;  Identify research support needs that are of priority to them as they respond to the challenge outlined above; 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF5

DWSMF: Goals & Objectives  Minimise duplication of effort and the likelihood of committing the same mistakes, thereby improving overall efficiency in the use of public resources  Consult and formulate shared perspectives on policy proposals and development especially in as far as they affect service delivery in our environments  Propose relevant Professional Programmes for DWSM 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF6

DWSMF: Activities  Development of a work/business plan  Workshops three times a year:  Discuss & debate key topical Issues  Access Information that can be used to improve service delivery arrangements  review progress in the implementation of the forum’s work/business plan  Lobby for policy, legislation and strategy reviews on water Services Issues that affect the work of the WSA Managers specifically in the District Municipalities 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF7

PEER REVIEWS: Context & Objectives  PEER REVIEWS two times a year –Process wherein forum members and other partners as ‘critical friends’ come together to learn and advise in a non-judgmental manner –A learning platform where members of the review team, through their experience and knowledge, impart advice and best practice as well as learn from the host WSA 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF8

PEER REVIEWS: Context & Objectives –Members of the review team learn in a real and practical sense about how to best manage water services in the climate of transformation in the sector –Self – assessment by the host WSA on how it is performing against the 5 review areas, which are used as a framework 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF9

PEER REVIEWS: The 5 Review Areas  Institutional Perspective –Organisational & reporting arrangements, Section 78, WSP/WSA Interface, performance measurement, policy compliance & implementation, planning, reporting, staffing, gender mainstreaming.  Financial Perspective –Water Services Financial Audit, investment planning & financing, sustainability  Strategic Asset Management –Asset Management Register, transfer process, conservation & demand management  Service Standards –Access to FBS, drinking water quality, impact n environment, health & hygiene promotion  Customer Perspective –Customer charter, quality & reliability of services, accessibility of customer interface 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF10

WSA expresses interest to be reviewed Forum and WSA decide on review date Facilitator puts together a Review Team Pre-Review Visit is undertaken Team Briefing and Document Review Data Collection (Presentations by Host on 5 Key Areas) Feedback Presentation Report Assessment by Review Team Host WSA develops and implements an improvement plan 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF11

PEER REVIEWS: Outcomes & Benefits Positive learning (benefits for other DMs)  What is working well?  What is replicable elsewhere? Challenges (benefits to hosting DM itself)  What are the critical issues?  What lessons apply from elsewhere?  How can/will issues be resolved? 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF12

PEER REVIEWS:…..  Peer Reviews has been conducted to the following municipalities, amongst others are: –Chris HaniEC –Joe QabiEC –Vhembe LP –SekhukhuneLP –uMgungundlovuKZN –uMkhanyakudeKZN etc 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF13

CHALLENGES  Whereas there are clear indications that members of the DWSMF see value and benefit in participating in the forum activities thereby confirming its relevance, the sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency of the forum is becoming a challenge.  The forum’s effectiveness depends entirely on members expressed interest in retaining the group and how it can become self-sustaining. Some of the challenges faced by the forum are:

CHALLENGES  Funding: The forum does not charge membership fees and therefore relies solely on external funding to sustain its programmes.  Meetings: The forum has not been meeting as frequently as it has planned to. This is partly due to poor secretariat support and poor responses from potential and existing members.

CHALLENGES  Programme of action: A programme of action is largely responsible for attracting participation in forum activities and marketing the forum as a community of practice.  Interaction with external stakeholders (forums): DWSMF has not been visible and known to other forums and external stakeholders. Key to this has been the lack of elevation of some policy and legislation issues to other structures for debate and review.

SUPPORT  Need the Municipal Political and Administrative Support  Need our Water Sector Partners Support  Ready to Support the Government initiatives in addressing Water Services challenges  Financial support in order to can carry out other learning programs for the DWSM  DWSMF need to be involved in all water services initiatives 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF17

CONCLUSION Lessons Learnt:  Sharing of knowledge and experience in a real practical context is an effective learning mechanism  Learning is also packaged as an outcome of the process for use by others  In the long term, we anticipate that the peer review will assist WSA Managers to sustain and improve performance. 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF18

THANK YOU RO LIVHUWA RE LEBOGA 11/15/2015Prepared by: DWSMF19