An institutional and political analysis of the establishment process of the Inkomati Catchment Management Agency

Abstract

The study explores the decentralisation and governance of water resources to the river basin level in South Africa. More specifically, this research project undertakes a case study analysis of the Inkomati Catchment Management Agency (ICMA) which was the first to be established successfully in South Africa. Nineteen Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) were proposed to be set up in each of the Water Management Areas (WMAs) that were delineated in accordance with the 1998 National Water Act (NWA). Decentralisation of water resources management to the basin level is a relatively new concept to Africa that has taken root in most countries on the European continent such Spain, France, Scotland, Germany and England. The pace and outcome of the decentralization process in South Africa’s water sector has not been satisfactory to many stakeholders. For instance the establishment process of the Inkomati Catchment Management Agency (CMA) took close to seven years, contrary to the expectations of technocrats, politicians and local stakeholders. By 2008 only the Inkomati CMA was fully operational. The study therefore, adapted the methodology that was developed by Kemper et al. (2006) and Blomquist et al. (2008) in an effort to gain insight into the water reform decentralisation process. Gaining insight into the water reform process will assist in improving public policy analysis as well as the nature and type of strategies that can be advocated to remedy the situation where the reforms are not working well. The methodology by Kemper et al. (2006) and Blomquist et al. (2008) has been used in several studies in most parts of the world. It is however, the first time the methodology is being applied in an African river basin - Inkomati. The study investigates the reasons why Inkomati CMA establishment process has been relatively more successful than the other four CMAs in the pilot “water stressed regions”. It was hypothesised that the CMA with larger number of and better organised Irrigation Boards (IB) has a better chance to gain support for establishment and continued functioning. The study findings indicate that indeed the Inkomati WMA displays a larger number of IBs that contributed to the successful establishment of the CMA. To date, only two CMAs (ICMA and Breede Overberg CMA) are functional after more than a decade’s existence of the new water legislation. The study also shows that a similar statement can be made in the Breede Overberg WMA: there is a positive correlation between the high number of IBs ability and CMA establishment process, demonstrating the instrumental role that commercial agricultural organised interests play in CMAs’ establishment process. The study also checked that the Inkomati CMA was actually functioning and performing its responsibilities and that it does not only exist on paper.