ANSWERING THE MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION

After reflecting on the empirical data discussed in Chapter 5 and 6 the following section tackles the main research question:

How can effective water policies in South Africa lead to sustainable consumption of freshwater by the agricultural sector?

The implementation or lack thereof of the objectives and mechanisms (legislation tools) outlined in the main water policies and strategies have created a barrier to the sustainable consumption of water resources. In the prior Chapters, various aspects of water resource consumption and the country's governing water legislations have been examined through an embedded mixed methods approach. To answer the main question, this study positioned South Africa’s water sector within a discourse of governance and policy change guided by the conceptual model. The democratic post-Apartheid government promogulated new legislation and strategies with the aim to better regulate water use and push for resource conservation. This is important as South Africa is a partly arid region that receives below average rainfall, yet its economy relies heavily upon surface water resources. It is within this context that the investigation of how legislation changed over time

73 and how these changes reformed the water sector takes place. This included impacts on the distribution, demand, efficiency and quantity and quality of water resource use. To make distribution (which includes allocation of water resources) more equitable, reduce demand (and water loss), increase water use efficiency (aided by reducing water stress) and improve the quality of water resources, the legislation and strategies introduced tools to be used to achieve these goals.

Creating a timeline of legislation changes using process tracing methodology showed that post 1994 heralded many changes and a spurt in water reform legislation. A major change was the decentralization of the government structure, the national government handed decision making responsibility and power to provincial government structures like the CMAs. Whose purpose is to delegate water resource management to a regional or catchment level, as well as including local communities. Set within this new governance arena, the national government moved on to planning and implementation strategies like the NWRS 1 and 2, as well as the NDP. However, progress dropped off from 2013, with no significant strategies being introduced. The findings show that this includes a new edition of the NWRS which is meant to undergo a five-yearly review and publication. Mapped on the timeline is the quantitative data findings of South Africa’s total freshwater withdrawal and the agricultural sectors water withdrawal. This graph shows that since 1994 water withdrawal has steadily increased, this coincides with the findings that water demand has increased due to food demand and a growing economy. It would be expected that after the introduction of the of the NWP and the NWA and subsequently the NWRS, that water withdrawal might decrease or remain at a steady level.

The progression of South Africa’s legislation since 1994 shows that there is more emphasis put on sustainability and water conservation within these new acts and strategies. The legislation includes a clear aim towards redressing past inequalities like the allocation of water based on riparian rights, as well as pushing for water-use efficiency in the biggest consumption sectors like irrigation agriculture. However, the findings show that, the sustainable consumption of the country's water resources also faces large obstacles. The continuation of ELU is based on the unfair and racially prejudiced allocation of land to white farmers during Apartheid, riparian rights allocated all water resources on the land to the owners. ELU continues this practice, effectively freezing those water resources from being fairly and equally allocated to new emerging minority farmers. On a national level, the amount of water the agricultural sector is allocated and consumes is justified because of its contribution to job creation (8.5million jobs) in the country. This dynamic

74 creates a trade-off between conservation of water resources and employment opportunities for South Africans.

The NDP is pushing for the expansion of irrigated agriculture by an additional 500 000 hectares with no plan for an increase in water allocation, this is to be achieved through greater water use efficiency. However, irrigation agriculture is one of the largest economic sectors of water loss.

According to the data it is responsible for water losses between 35% and 40%. The water use efficiency has dropped since 1998-2002 from 0.21 USD/M³ to 0.11 USD/M³ as of 2018-2022. On a national level, responsible authorities need to reconcile these unnecessary losses before they expand on irrigated agriculture. The NWRS states that there is the opportunity to import water intensive goods like agricultural crops, this would alleviate some of the water stress placed on catchment areas. Despite the possibility, there is a stalemate between protecting the country's water resources and the loss of employment that would occur.

There are many disparages between policy rhetoric and implementation of objectives. The data showed that there are implementation tools in place to act as mechanisms for water resource management and conservation. The three main tools: water use licensing, water pricing and water use authorizations, are aimed at fair and equitable allocation of water resources, water conservation and increasing water use efficiency. However, the findings also show that there are many challenges like a lack of enforcement and compliance with these regulations. This is due to the lack of capacity on behalf of the national and provincial governments to enforce these mechanisms. The shortfalls of the tools need to be addressed. The underlying causes of implementation issues need to be addressed by the highest level of government, which would fall to the responsibility of the Department of Water Affairs.

Consequently, the significance of the results for the main research question led to the summation that water policies could be more effective if implementation gaps, and policy issues were bridged.

All policies and strategies are dependent on reliable, accurate and current data and information.

Unfortunately, current reporting regarding water availability and water use is not sufficiently covered. This negatively impacts the creation of regulatory policies and strategies, which cannot set caps and limitations on water resource consumption without the right data. For example, unlawful water abstraction and use is a significant concern in the agricultural sector, yet without proper data collection and reporting, the responsible authorities cannot understand the scope of the problem and how much water is being lost to these illegal activities.

75 The government needs to try achieving synergy between water resource conservation and the economic contribution of the agricultural sector, moving past the trade-offs. As food demand and a growing economy increase and water resource availability decreases, the country should be aiming for greater sustainable consumption. The regulation of the agricultural sector needs greater monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement, with such low WUE and high-water losses, its consumption cannot be considered sustainable. Policy tools need to be more inclusive, for example the licensing process is legally and technically complex, this can alienate previously disadvantaged water users and discourage them from applying. General authorizations are granted to small water users, yet in stressed water catchment areas there may not be any available water for their use. According to the data, water pricing does not cover the cost of supplying the resource to users and irrigation agriculture pays the least for water because it is heavily subsidized.

At the conceptual level, the legislation places strong emphasis on cooperative governance, necessitating coordination between the national government and public or private organisations to deliver services. This coincides with effectiveness and efficiency. In the case of this research the cooperation occurs between the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) and Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) to manage water resources and deliver services. However, the establishment of the CMAs has been extremely slow, with a regression from nineteen CMAs to nine, which shook stakeholders’ faith in the system. As a responsible authority for water resource management and conservation, CMAs are critical on a provincial level, having control over specific catchment areas and communicating and connecting with local stakeholders. As only two of the nine proposed CMAs are currently operational, there is a huge disruption in the water governance system. This has consequences for implementation and management. Ultimately, bureaucratic pitfalls and shortcomings have a ripple effect through the water sector, directly impacting the effectiveness of water policies. Micro-level implementation challenges are also important as they effect smallholder farmers. Regulations that control the use of land and water resources need to be improved, especially for rural areas where there are complex and dynamic institutions (Cele & Wale, 2018).