Water, Sewage & Effluent March-April 2018 | Page 38

An independent economic water regulator Since the election of a new leadership, bold steps are now on the cards to elect an independent economic regulator for water. By Helgard Muller, Pr Eng T he National Development Plan (NDP  2013) has raised the issue of an independent economic regulator for water. The NDP proposed that a careful assessment should be done on the specific functions of an independent economic regulator (IER), as well as the potential costs and benefits in relation to the current set-up. This assessment and process have unfortunately been delayed through all the leadership changes and uncertainties at the helm in the Department of Water and 36 Sanitation (DWS). This may soon change. Information shared with selected stakeholders at a recent DWS workshop showed that some bold steps are now on the cards to move in this direction. Let us analyse what is the drive behind this and what an IER can achieve. It is a common fact that the water and sanitation sector is not in a good fin