Thousands of professionals from across the water sector are gathering at the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) Biennial Conference and Exhibition taking place at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
Themed “Rethinking Amanzi – Securing our future”, the three-day conference (22 – 24 July) aims to address issues such as water infrastructure, service delivery and long-term water security which remain high in South Africa.
Minister of water and sanitation, Pemmy Majodina highlighted the country’s water crisis and emphasised the need for better infrastructure and maintenance. She also called on public-private partnerships to help fund the water investment.
Majodina said that the timing of this conference is spot on, with 2026 having been declared by the United Nations as the year of water, and with President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring that South Africa has a water crisis.
“That is an acknowledgement that we must move faster, better and smarter to ensure access to water and safe sanitation by all citizens. Over the next few days, this conference will interrogate some of the most pressing issues confronting the sector,” she said.
“WISA has confidently demonstrated that sustainable water management requires a multi-disciplinary approach that brings together water scientists, economists, planners, environmental specialists, and social scientists collaborating.”
Majodina said that increasingly, we are facing challenges which cannot be solved by any single individual. “Water is everybody’s business. Water is partnership, water is us.”
She added that the theme therefore could not be more timely, because “when you rethink, you come up with new ideas, you rethink with the intention of changing what you have been doing and improving on it”.
“You don’t rethink when all is well…Securing our water future reminds us that it will require more than additional infrastructure. It will demand new governance models, new financing mechanisms, new technologies and perhaps more importantly, a renewed commitment to collective action.
“Water is a catalyst for socio-economic development. Water cannot be replaced by anything. If water security is the destination, infrastructure remains one of the biggest hurdles. Yet infrastructure on its own cannot guarantee water security,” Majodina said.
This year’s conference comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa, along with Deputy President Paul Mashatile, launched several water programmes and announced new water infrastructure commitments.
Ramaphosa has pledged R156 billion towards water and sanitation infrastructure over the next three years, while warning that municipalities and officials who fail to manage water services properly could face legal consequences as the government intensifies efforts to tackle South Africa’s worsening water crisis.
