South Africa’s Cabinet has approved the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS’s) Water Services Amendment Bill and National Water Amendment Bill.

The Bills will now be sent to Parliament.

The DWS has been progressing the amendments of the Bills in an effort to reverse the decline in South Africa’s embattled water sector.

Many regions across South Africa continue to experience water quality decline, there are delayed infrastructure projects, water boards are becoming insolvent and municipalities are failing to maintain infrastructure.

The amendments to the Water Services Act aim to tackle widespread municipal dysfunction, strengthen the regulation and management of water services as well as improve compliance with the Water Services Act, 1997.

The Water Services Amendment Bill introduces reforms to address the nonseparation of the functions of water services authorities (WSAs) and water services providers (WSPs) by providing greater clarity regarding the functions of each. It also aims to mitigate poor performance of the WSPs through the introduction of a legal requirement that WSAs may only appoint WSPs that have an operating licence, which requires a minimum level of competency.

The amendments will also address weaknesses identified in the sector, including introduction of offences for noncompliance and norms and standards for intervention and minimum standards for the functioning of WSPs, which must be enforced by WSAs.

The National Water Amendment Bill, meanwhile, amends the National Water Act, 1998, to improve regulations and ensure that the country’s water resources are well managed, protected and conserved.

The Bill also makes proposals to eliminate the imbalances of the past relating to water allocation and also gives effect to Section 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, by making provisions to enhance protection of the country’s water resources.