The Big Picture
Komati Basin Water Authority (KOBWA) is a binational organization established in 1992 under a Treaty between the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Eswatini, and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of Maguga (Eswatini) and Driekoppies (South Africa) dams and their ancillary infrastructure. KOBWA manages the water allocations enjoyed by the two countries from the Komati and Lomati rivers downstream of the dams: it reports to the Joint Water Commission (JWC) between South Africa and Eswatini, which is a body that was established in 1992 to act as a technical advisor to the two countries on all matters relating to the development and utilisation of water resources of common interest. KOBWA focuses on the operation and maintenance of the dams and related infrastructure, and its four departments are:
• Water Management Department: Responsible for planning and management of all activities on the bulk infrastructure, systems operation, systems development, emergency preparedness and other related functions. Its key focus areas are:
– Systems Operation
– Aquatic Ecosystems Monitoring
– Infrastructure Maintenance and Dam Safety
– Risk and Uncertainty Management
– Monitoring and Technical Support
• Corporate Support Department: Responsible for providing Human Resource and Information management support to the entire organization
• Environment and Development Department: Responsible for the implementation of KOBWA’s Environmental Monitoring programme for the Komati Basin, as well as the Resettlement programme for persons affected by the construction of the Komati River Basin Project
• Finance Department: Responsible for full control of the repayment of loans, budgeting and financing development projects and procurement functions
A five-year Strategic Plan has been guiding the operations of the Authority, as well as aligning it with the current environment and the entity’s potentially-expanded scope: the aim of the document was to set objectives, plans and targets that would be monitored and measured across the organization. The original strategic planning session involved all key stakeholders, including staff members, Trades Union representatives and the Department of Water Affairs of both Eswatini and South Africa.
In 2016 and in response to prevailing dry conditions and the scarcity of rainfall, KOBWA initiated a sensitisation programme whereby communities were educated about climate change and its adverse consequences which are extremes of both drought and rain. Communities were urged to adopt water-saving habits, to use just enough water for a task at hand, and to reuse water for other chores such as cleaning. This was also an opportunity for KOBWA representatives to inform communities about the Authority’s mandate, as well as assess their sentiments regarding KOBWA and its operations that impact on their daily lives.
The Masterplan
Eswatini’s Department of Water Affairs falls under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, and the kingdom’s five main dams are:
• Mnjoli Dam, Black Mbuluzi River, 177-million m³ capacity
• Lubovane Dam, Great Usuthu River, 155-million m³ capacity
• Maguga Dam, Komati River, 332-million m³ capacity
• Hawane Dam, Black Mbuluzi River, 2.75-million m³ capacity
• Luphohlo Dam, Lusushwana River, 23.6-million m³ capacity
The National Water Policy (NWP) declares that the kingdom’s total renewable water resource is 4.51 km³/year, with 1.87 km³/year or 42 percent originating from South Africa. The country shares five major rivers with South Africa and Mozambique: in the north, the Komati and Lomati river systems originate in South Africa and flow to Mozambique and the Indian Ocean via Eswatini. The water resources of the Lomati river basin are intensively used and this has led to tension among the three countries.
Irrigated agriculture consumes the bulk (870 Mm³/annum) of water, of which 67 percent goes to the sugarcane industry. The Mbuluzi River originates in Eswatini and flows into Mozambique. This river system also requires cooperation between the two countries in an effort to share the water resources therein equitably. The Usuthu River originates in South Africa and flows out through Eswatini into Mozambique, forming the border between Mozambique and South Africa. The Ngwavuma, in the south of the country, originates in Eswatini and flows into South Africa before entering Mozambique. There are no major underground water aquifers in Eswatini, so the yields are low. Groundwater sources are used mainly for drinking, especially in the drought-prone areas.
On the other hand, there are nine major dams with a height of more than 10 metres and total storage capacity of about 585 million m³. Among these, seven are used for irrigation purposes, one for hydroelectric purposes, and the other for water supply, while the larger dam, Maguga, was constructed in 2002 for irrigation, hydroelectricity generation and tourism. One dam is currently under construction and its main purpose shall be irrigation of sugarcane and other crops. Total withdrawals for agricultural, domestic and industrial purposes are estimated at almost 1 km³. Irrigation uses about 90-95 percent of the water resources in the country.
Lay of the Land
The country is divided into four physiographic regions that run almost parallel in a north-south direction, namely: Highveld, Middleveld, Lowveld and Lubombo Plateau. The climatic and topographic characteristics of these zones play a significant role in determining the land-use patterns in the country, which in turn affect water-use. The predominant land-uses include small-scale subsistence agriculture, large-scale commercial agriculture and communal grazing. The spatial distribution of water is uneven across the country; water sources are often not located where the demand is greatest, thus requiring reservoirs and conveyance systems to bring the water to the user, hence the need for storage. This also points to the need for effective water management institutions.
Eswatini faces a major challenge in continuing the sustainable development and efficient utilisation of its scarce water resources to support economic growth, diversification and poverty eradication. The strategies aimed at meeting national water demands in the future will need to be directed towards improving allocative efficiency in the provision of water and enhance technological developments to improve water resources stewardship and water-demand management. The national framework will facilitate access to water of suitable quality through integrated practices, and provide the foundations for the sustainable development of water resources in support of economic growth, diversification and poverty eradication. The broad rural water supply subsector policy objectives are to improve health and alleviate rural poverty through improved access to adequate and safe water. Therefore, the NWP intends to achieve the following specific objectives:
• Provide a national framework for sustainable development and management of water resources in support of economic growth, ecological integrity, human health and poverty eradication
• Promote equitable provision through access to adequate and good quality water for all
• Promote water resources allocative-efficiency practices
• Promote integrated and decentralised management of water resources with particular emphasis on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
• Enhance resilience of the water resources through sound risk-management practices
• Ensure that transboundary obligations are met at all times and levels
• Promote sustainable economic development in the use of water
• Improve water security in the kingdom
• Ensure coordination of water resources planning with land-use planning and adoption of basin/catchment planning and management
Ideals and Outcomes
An annexure to the main document asserts that key issues and policy statements under the NWP were developed in reference to the attainment of, among others, the UN-sanctioned Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and Targets, e.g. sustainable and equitable allocation and provision of water of appropriate quantity and quality, adapting to the effects of extreme climate events and addressing issues related to the water governance framework. The 17 SDGs and 169 Targets seek to demonstrate the scale and ambition of the new ‘Universal Agenda’, as the SDGs seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and complete what the MDGs did not achieve.
SDGs are integrated and indivisible, and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, social and environmental. Sustainable development is strongly connected to the availability of sufficient and good quality water for the preservation of healthy ecosystems, and is critical for socioeconomic and human development, thus the decision to incorporate a dedicated water goal, i.e. SDG-6 (ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) among the 17 SDGs. This is clear recognition that water is not only part of many other SDGs, but in many aspects also their precondition.
Although the water perspective is dedicated to the water goal (SDG-6), potential interlinkages with other goals and targets, including, among others, SDG-2 (food security), SDG-3 (health and wellbeing), SDG-11 (resilient cities), SDG-12 (sustainable consumption) and SDG-15 (freshwater ecosystems) have also been highlighted within the key issues and policy statements of Eswatini’s NWP. The latter will therefore contribute to achieving SDG-6, but also further contribute to the achievement of SDG-2, SDG-3, SDG-11, SDG-12, SDG-13 and SDG-15:
• By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
• By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
• By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
• By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
• By 2030, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
• By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water-and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
• Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
• By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity/production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality
The NWP will also complement the realisation of the following SDGs:
• SDG 3 – ensure healthy lives and promote the wellbeing of all
• SDG 11 – make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• SDG 12 – ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, and achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
• SDG 13 – take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• SDG 15 – protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
Under the heading ‘Climate-Change Resilience’, the NWP declares that the water authority shall establish systems and technology to monitor and observe water resources, to understand the water balance and perform water accounting, improve meteorological services, and observe and respond to climate variance and long-term impacts of climate change. For this purpose, the authority shall:
• Prepare water and climate impact risk assessment and hazard mapping as part of district planning and basin management
• Establish meteorological services to water-users, agriculture, industry and communities to include Early Warning Systems and dynamic information networks
• Establish a Climate Centre of Excellence to contribute to water observation and monitoring, and water resource management, planning and decision-making
• Establish a water information management and custodial framework linking meteorological and climate services, agrometeorology, water balance monitoring, groundwater, supply and abstraction demand
• Invest in water-use-efficient irrigation systems
• Conduct public awareness campaigns to ensure that the public is enlightened on climate change issues, including mitigation and adaptation measures
Corridor of Opportunity
According to the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC), thanks to a significant, welcome number of residential, commercial and industrial developments that in recent years have been launched along the Matsapha-Manzini corridor, the demand for water services spiked accordingly. This led to the Corporation’s Managing Director, Jabulile Mashwama, hosting a public function at which she addressed consumers’ concerns. She began by disclosing that the EWSC had during the past 12 months been developing a plan aimed at resolving the constraints being experienced in the area. Mashwama issued a precis of the Corporation’s blueprint, along with its timebound deliverables, and gave an assurance that through its implementation of the plan, the EWSC will be able to meet the heightened levels of demand and thereby placate customers’ anxieties regarding uncertainty going forward, as had been shared with the Corporation. The MD stated that after a comprehensive analysis of the constraints, the EWSC had subsequently opted to pursue a four-phase approach:
• To address the immediate water supply challenges in Tubungu, Police Academy, Emhlane and surrounding areas, the Corporation would integrate its network systems to ensure that the drop in reservoir levels did not affect supply to these areas. The mitigation measure was scheduled for implementation in the late evening.
• To address water supply challenges in Nhlambeni, Masundvwini, Sigodvweni and Mobeni, the Corporation was already implementing a mid-term to permanent solution by increasing storage capacity. The siting of a 3-megalitre reservoir at Emathangeni in Matsapha would serve as a dedicated alternate supply point for residential customers in cases where demand for industrial water is at peak level.
• To improve water supply in Kwaluseni, Mfabantfu and surrounding areas, the Corporation would increase supply capacity by upgrading the pumping system to the Logoba reservoir.
• To improve the general quality of services and the growing demand for water in the Matsapha-Manzini corridor and surrounding areas, the Corporation was upgrading the Matsapha Water Treatment Plant to increase capacity to meet demand during the next financial year. The upgrade project would tie in with the larger, recently approved Manzini Integrated Water and Sanitation Project, which will ensure that water is supplied to additional areas under the Mafutseni, Nhlambeni, Manzini South and Mtfongwaneni constituencies. Government was investing close to E800-million in this project, which was scheduled for completion in 2022.
Mashwama stated that implementing the short- to medium-term works would require planned interruptions to the water supply. She assured the public that the usual 48-hour notice would be given to customers before scheduled shutdowns. Furthermore, she said, the Corporation would endeavour to minimise the impact of said interruptions by providing an alternative water supply through stationary tanks being sited in strategic places.
• UPDATE: EWSC called a media briefing to announce that significant progress had been made in the Matsapha-Manzini water supply system upgrade. Reporters were informed that, with over 80 percent of works implemented thus far, a noticeably improved water supply was being enjoyed by residents of Kwaluseni, Mfabantfu and surrounding areas. The Corporation said that it had increased supply-capacity by upgrading the pumping system that serves the Logoba reservoir: supply to homes in these areas had previously been compromised by ever-increasing demand. EWSC’s spokesperson also revealed that construction of the 3-megalitre reservoir in Matsapha’s Emathangeni subdivision was nearing the point where it could begin to address water supply challenges in Tubungu, Nhlambeni, Masundvwini, Sigodvweni and Mobeni.
Regional Boon
EWSC Managing Director, Jabulile Mashwama, revealed to stakeholders in the Manzini Region Water and Sanitation Project that she had requested the support of Traditional Authorities and Constituency Administration in the initiative’s implementation. Mashwama said this during a scheduled stakeholder-engagement meeting at the EWSC Headquarters in Ezulwini, where project beneficiaries and affected communities had convened: additional meetings were yet to be held at the constituency level. The Manzini Region Water and Sanitation Project is an E800-million project financed by government and the African Development Bank, targeting Nhlambeni, Manzini South, Mtfongwaneni and Mafutseni.
The undertaking is based on the need to develop a more reliable and sustainable water supply in the project area, and the promotion of more environmentally friendly solutions for sanitation. Addressing the meeting which included Members of Parliament, Tindvuna teTinkhundla, Bucopho and Water Committees, Mashwama also highlighted that the preliminary project-briefing sessions were pertinent to allow meaningful contributions towards project designs, along with the identification of affected communities. She described community engagement in water and sanitation service-delivery as “key for ensuring project sustainability and accountability”. The proposed water project will be one of the major initiatives to be implemented by EWSC, one that will impact an estimated 76 500 people across the target areas.
The potable water component of the project is envisaged to entail an upgrade of the existing Matsapha Water Treatment Plant, the construction of two reservoirs with a combined capacity of 23.5-megalitres, gravity and pump-driven mains, water reticulation pipelines and 25 water kiosks. EWSC’s obligation is to reduce the number of people without access to water and sanitation, and through the water kiosk system the Corporation will provide access to clean and safe water at an affordable tariff. The 25 outlets will be distributed across the project area, with added consideration given to subdivisions that are in dire need of water and are densely populated.
Within the sanitation component, in the peri-urban areas the project will capacitate the various communities with knowledge and technical expertise on the construction of VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit-Latrine) toilets. A 2.2-megalitre wastewater treatment plant and a reticulation system will be constructed, targeting Sidvokodvo community cognisant of the proposed industrial town.
• UPDATE: EWSC announced that the Manzini Integrated Water Supply Project had got under way with the engagement of Gibb Africa consultants, which had begun developing detailed designs. The project will increase water supply capacity to meet future demand, and further provide water to additional areas under the Mafutseni, Nhlambeni, Manzini South and Mtfongwaneni constituencies. This project is expected to reach completion in 2022.
Enhanced Status
EWSC’s water-meter verification laboratory is the first such facility in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to attain accreditation. Making his remarks during the official certification event, Eswatini’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, described EWSC’s achievement as “most commendable”, and said that by attaining this lofty status, the Corporation has positioned itself on a trajectory to gain international recognition for its commitment to quality, competency and reliable services. Continuing, the Minister opined that accreditation of the laboratory had come at “exactly the right time, just when the kingdom is looking forward to attaining first world status, which entails the provision of competent services”. He said it was envisaged that the facility will inspire confidence in customers, as they will feel sure of getting true value for their money.
Khumalo pointed out that many countries across the globe now rely on accreditation as a means of independently evaluating competence of verification laboratories, and qualified this by stating that: “Accreditation helps to achieve accurate calibration, measurement and testing, performed in accordance with best practice, as well as to limit errors and product failure, to control production costs and contribute to an innovative environment. Accreditation is, therefore, an essential tool for decision-making, risk management and supplier selection. It can also provide a competitive advantage in domestic markets through access to public sector contracts, and also overseas with greater acceptance in export markets.”
He also highlighted the fact that, in principle, the activities of water meter verification fall under legal metrology, which sets out conditions with which water meters should comply. According to the Minister, Eswatini’s Metrology Act of 1991 mandates the Ministry, through the Weights and Measures department, with authority to control as many measuring instruments as possible for the protection of consumers, as well as users of such instruments. He thus took the opportunity to request EWSC to comply fully with the obligations of the Act and the technical regulations that are still under development: the latter shall spell out the water meter verification technical requirements, he said.
Khumalo went on to say it was also worth noting that accreditation of laboratories is in line with core policy number seven of the National Regulatory and Quality Policy (2010) which states that all conformity-assessment bodies must be accredited. “Government has made a commitment to help such entities in this regard by promoting and offering training on accreditation standards, as well as facilitating the accreditation process. Eswatini accredits its conformity-assessment activities through the multi-economy accreditation body, SADCAS,” he added. The Minister highlighted that Eswatini now boasts a total of 10 accredited facilities, adding that government was looking forward to having yet more facilities achieve accreditation.
EWSC Managing Director, Jabulile Mashwama, said that as a customer-centric organization, investing in international quality systems was imperative for effective and reliable service delivery. “Ensuring accurate billing is one of our highest priorities,” she continued, “and this accreditation will increase consumer confidence in the billing mechanism, as there is now a system to independently verify the authenticity thereof. This is but one of the many successes that we have achieved and which truly exemplify our true blue culture, where we show up in excellence and do all we can to meet customer expectations and win their hearts and minds because of reliable service.”