Water Institutional Dimensions

Approximately 5 million rural South Africans still have inadequate water and sanitation. In September 2004, cabinet approved the National Water Resource Strategy. One of the aims of the strategy is to meet the constitutional requirement that all South Africans have access to potable water. Nineteen water management areas are identified in the strategy and new water management institutions were designed to help address the problems of water provision, management, conservation and participation by stakeholders in these processes. These institutions include water management agencies and water user associations. In some rural areas water committees have been established as a means of liaison with local communities (Nitish 2004).

This project seeks to analyse and evaluate the new water management institutional arrangements by focusing on the role that socio-cultural issues, particularly the role of traditional leadership, customary water tenure and cultural and religious practices play in determining water management outcomes. This research will raise awareness about these issues and propose methods for understanding and addressing the social dimensions of water management. Integrating socio-cultural perspectives into management at a time when new institutions are being implemented is considered vital.