OPINION | Skills key to fixing South Africa’s water crisis, says EWSETA

By Dr Mmaphefo Thwala

While EWSETA supports President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call to restore and upgrade critical water infrastructure, we believe water reform is as much a skills issue as a funding one.

This Water Month comes on the back of the President’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he went as far as saying that “water is now the single most important issue for many people in South Africa.”

The President acknowledged years of underinvestment, maintenance backlogs and system failures. However, infrastructure alone will not secure South Africa’s water future.

The system only works when there are skilled people to operate and maintain it. There is a clear opportunity for EWSETA to extend our contribution to water sector recovery.

Through working with national and local government (i.e. municipalities), water boards and industry, EWSETA has already been involved in supporting skills development in the water sector.

However, considering the