South Africa's worsening water crisis is being driven less by a lack of infrastructure than by weak governance, poor financial management and municipalities' inability to generate revenue.
This is according to DNA Economics’ Practice Head: Climate and Public Economics, Shirley Robinson, who highlighted that municipal water infrastructure finance is fundamentally a municipal finance challenge.
Robinson shared her insights during a “Beyond Infrastructure: Financing South Africa’s Water Future” webinar on Monday, which gathered experts to challenge the current conversation by shifting the focus from infrastructure deficits to financial ability.
The webinar, moderated by visiting British Academy research fellow Dr Ohiocheoya Omiunu, was hosted by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in partnership with DNA Economics, GreenCape and the Infrastructure Finance and Implementation Support Agency (IFISA).
Robinson explained that the discussion around water infrastructure financing always begins with the question of how the required investment will be financed, but that it should first start with what makes a municipality capable of sustaining long-term infrastructure investment.
