I am fascinated by the interview that I conducted today with the Director of Water Services in one of the District municipalities in Mpumalanga.

“I cannot take credit for the success of the District, we are excelling because we work as a team , from our political heads downwards” In our team the individual does not exist, we are the ‘WE’ of the District. Everything is about the ‘WE’. We do not use top down approach, we are equal partners and players operating horizontally”. We see ourselves as a family of municipalities in the District with the vision to meet the expectations of our communities”.

He reminded me of my favourite Asante proverb: I am because we are and therefore we are because I am.

WIN-SA is currently documenting a case study on systematic planning and coordination for sustainable water services delivery. Issues emerging from the case study
- Systems thinking
- Integrated planning
- Change management
- Visionary and committed leaders
- Solution oriented- the District is building a provincial water lab ( self sustainable)
- Economies of scale and shared services
- Clear roles and responsibilities
- IWRM

Regardless of challenges faced by many of our municipalities some are really doing excellent stuff out there. WIN-SA salute them!

If one part of a system is not working, it does not mean that the whole is not working , it is an indicator of what needs to be fixed in the system.

Planned date for publication - March 2010

regards
Ditshego