Transcript Understanding the Context

Masibambane
‘Let’s work together’
Experiences of Collaboration in the
Water Services Sector
PMIG Discussion Session
07 December 2005
Louise Colvin
CONTENTS
• What is Masibambane?
• Share findings of Sector
Collaboration Review
• Raise questions for discussion
Imperative to collaborate is all around us
Masibambane - Let’s Work Together
• Led by DWAF, Masibambane initiated in 2000
• A SWAP – Sector Wide Approach Programme
with pooled donor funding
• Grappled from start with notion of Masibambane
being a concept ‘owned’ by the sector – not a
separate programme or donor funding conduit
• Challenge was not to create a separate empire –
but strengthen the sector and its partners
• Fundamentally a vehicle for transformation –
driving a new paradigm and shift in power
relations
• Prepared sector to face the changes ahead …
DWAF WS in Transition
PRESENT FOCUS
PAST FOCUS
Nationally driven CWSS
Inheritance & running of exBantustan schemes
Transformation
Building WS capacity &
development paradigm in DWAF
FUTURE
Restructuring
Sector Leadership
Decentralisation
Policy
Policy framework
Support thru cooperative
governance
Addressing W&S
backlog
Regulation
Transfers
Institutional Reform
Building sector
Information
LG Support
1994
elections
2000
…. in support of
transformation & DWAF
fulfilling its leadership
2005
role
WS & Local Government Context
New democracy
1994
1997
WS
D
W
A
F
DWAF takes on exBantustan schemes
& WS role
Transition to
programmatic
approach.
Drives national
community based
infrastructure
projects for basic
services
Top slicing for
Institutional Dev &
sustainability
2000
BoTT
WS Act
2003
Masibambane – funds &
drive for sector
collaboration & LG
institutional development and support
WSA* focus
Transfers & preparing
for decentralisation
2005 +
DWAF restructured
for regulatory role
Strategic
Framework for WS
Sector Approach
Extended
Institutional
Reform
Free basic water
LG
d
p
l
g
Wall to wall
transitional LG –
804 municipalities
LG legislation for
new structures &
systems
Huge variance in
capacity
1999 Demarcation
process
SALGA – organised
LG body established
2000 Elections
* WS Authority ** Municipal Infrastructure Grant *** WS Provider
284 municipalities
established
3 categories:▪ Metro ▪ District
▪ Local …still
capacity variance
New Powers &
Functions = 155
WSAs
Consolidated MIG**
launched – DWAF
capital program
migrates to MIG
Project Consolidate
–integrated focus on
strengthening LG &
service delivery as
political priority
Determining WSP ***
arrangements
A Sector Wide Approach
Key Components
Governmentled process of donor
coordination
Agreed
process for harmonization
of systems
Systematic
mechanism for
collaboration
Common
performance
monitoring/
reporting
Masibambane
/ SWAP
Clear & agreed
Sector policy
and strategy
Sector expenditure framework
(all local & external
resources)
Masibambane Water Services Sector Support
DWAF
Water Services Sector
Policy and Regulation
• DWAF
• DPLG
• SALGA
• Other Depts
• WSAs
Strategic
Framework
for WS
DWAF WS
Strategy
• Water Resource & Forestry
• Water Services
• Policy & Strategy
WS
• Sector Development
Functional
• Regulations
Managemen
t Committee
• Planning & Info
• WSPs
• NGO/CBOs
• WSIs
• Etc
Sector
Strategic
and
Manageme
nt
Committees
Operations
• Forestry ▪ Development
• Water Services Cluster
• Regional co-ordination
• Sanitation
• Transfers
• WS Support
Regional Offices
Masibambane Sector Support
Sector Committees
• Water Services Strategic Leadership Group
• Masibambane Co-ordination Committee
• Provincial Collaborative Forums
Elements of collaboration
• It is about:– Common identity & ownership
– Leadership
– Joint (or collective) decision making
– Sharing
– Organisation - coordination & management
– Collaborative programmes
Building identity & ownership
• Approach:– Strengthen members to participate eg
SALGA, WSAs (even the playing field)
– Ensuring mutual benefit:
• Voice/say on national agenda
• Sharing experiences / learning lessons
• Empowered by being better informed –
seeing bigger picture
• Working better (maximising resources,
minimise duplication etc)
• Meeting need
Building identity & ownership
– Masibambane to act in interest of all
– Moving from Us and them  WE
– Wearing two hats :• sector hat
(eg: provincial forums on WSSLG)
• own organisation/dept hat
…. both require role clarity, common
purpose & understood positions
Leadership
• Complex – not just who but HOW
• Critical for collaboration & essential to guide
this period of transformation
The very essence of leadership is (that) you have to
have a vision, It’s got to be a vision that you
articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion.
You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.
Father Theodore Hesburg
• Not ONE leader
• Leaders come to the fore at different levels &
in different arenas
Leadership
Leadership is a process of influencing group members
toward the attainment of defined goals ….
and is about coping with change.
Greenberg & Baron
• The role of the leader can change: eg from
directing & doing to facilitating and supporting
• Have to grapple with what leadership means,
what role & how to effect – especially DWAF
‘Leadership is example.’ Albert Schweizer.
• It does not happen because it is legislated … nor
because there is one good leader
Leadership
• Lessons:
 Shared and clearly articulated VISION
 Must have champion (often individual based)
 Allow members to choose (each forum differed)
 Cater for different level & type of leadership
 Can have collective leadership (WSSLG)
 Clarity and consistency
 Leadership style is important – as befitting the
occasion
Collaborative Structures
•
Sector structures (govt and others):1. WS Sector Leadership Group (WSSLG) to
strategically guide the sector
2. Masibambane/WS Coordinating Committee to
oversee sector plans & reporting at national
level
3. Provincial Sector Fora (comprising mainly
municipalities) to jointly plan, budget &
implement provincial sector strategies
•
1 & 2 have sector sub committees, working on
specific areas (sanitation, gender, HIV/Aids,
Civil Society etc)
Sector Collaborative Structures
• Functioning of Provincial Fora differ (stronger in
the original Masibambane supported provinces –
KZN, EC, LP)
• The sector collaborative structures are not
formalised or legislated (except in KZN).
• Additional fora established – District WSA WS
Managers Forum (à la Cities Network WS
Managers) Water Information Network (WIN) – as
determined by participants
Sector Collaborative Structures
• The measure of their success and
continuance lies in them being relevant
and useful.
• Exchange of information knowledge
sharing has become increasingly
important
• Should not duplicate existing structures
Collaborative decision making
• Joint decision making means joint responsibility –
key for effective decentralisation.
• Vital for coherence & good decision making in
sector – otherwise potential for fragmentation &
even conflict.
• Sector collaboration is NOT about undermining
authorised decision makers – but about them
taking decisions in their own right … within & with
the formal decision making structures, across
– 3 spheres of government
– Political & Executive/Official
– Inter-sectoral
Collaborative decision making process
decision
SECTOR
MEMBER
joint
FORUM
FORUM
action
proposal
agreement
SECTOR
MEMBER
decision
Organisation
• Vital to be organised – thru coordination &
management, requiring:A common strategic framework into which all
strategies feed
Integrated planning
Common (mutually intelligible) reporting systems
the WS Sector Coordinating Committee which meets
nationally to report quarterly per PFMA –
checklist
benchmarking
Link in with LG reporting processes
Annual analysis of the State of the Sector
Planning Alignment
Cross Sectoral Plans & Water Sector Plans
Cross Sectoral
National
Provincial
Local
Water Sector
Medium Term
Strategic
Framework (MTSF)
Strategic
Framework for
Water Services
Provincial Growth &
Development
Strategy (PGDS)
Provincial Water
Services Sector
Strategic Plan
Integrated
Development Plan
(IDP)
Water Services
Development Plan
(WSDP)
WATER SERVICES SECTOR STRATEGY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM
NATIONAL
SECTOR
PARTNERS
SFWS
Implementation
Strategies
DWAF WS
Strategy
NATIONAL
WATER RESOURCE
STRATEGY
DPLG
CATCHMENT
MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
PROVINCIAL
SECTOR
PARTNERS
PROVINCIAL GROWTH
& DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY
PROVINCIAL WS
SECTOR STRATEGIC
PLAN
WATER SERVICES
AUTHORITY
MUNICIPAL IDP
MUNICIPAL
WS
DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
CIVIL
SOCIETY
PEOPLE’S NEED
WATER
SERVICES
PROVIDER
WATER BOARD / /
UTILITIES
BUSINESS PLAN
SOCIAL ▪ ECONOMIC ▪ ENVIRONMENTAL ▪ INSTITUTIONAL DRIVERS
NATIONAL
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORK
Current Lines of WS Reporting
Provincial structures
Clusters
RPM etc
= legislated, formal government reporting
= not formal reporting but input & exchange at strategic level
= not legislated reporting but collaborative reporting of ALL (govt & non-govt) sector members
Sector Collaboration Review
• Held between February to September 2005,
coordinated by WIN
• The objectives:– to document the Masibambane / sector approach,
– to understand how collaboration is contributing to
sector progress and why and how sector stakeholders
are coming together.
– to recommend how to consolidate and institutionalise
the approach
Generic Lessons Learnt
• Build capacity within partner organisations
allowing them to collaborate … eg: SALGA was
able to be the voice of disparate munix, enabling
real dialogue
• Concentrate on tangible issues and projects
(such as strategic plans, programmes –
Transfers, S78 etc)
• Concentrate on support to municipalities
• Flexible funding essential (donors)
• Involve political players – esp councillors
Generic Lessons Learnt (SCR)
• Different types of collaboration are needed at
different levels. Regular review of structures
and process to remain relevant
• Honest brokers can assist in recognising change
• Informality can help. Mandating an
organisation’s collaboration often does not
always achieve results
• Collaboration and communication builds trust –
transparency builds credibility
Generic Lessons Learnt (SCR)
• Collaboration over planning, budgeting and
implementation is as important as developing
policy
• Regular ‘open’ provincial/national reporting has
improved information flow and built trust
• There is need to measure performance of munix
early on in decentralisation process as it
promotes accountability
• Collaboration is not necessary all the time – it
can hold up as well as facilitate transformation.
It is not a substitute for strong line management
Generic Lessons Learnt (SCR)
• Both drivers for and barriers to collaboration will
change over time – must be flexible to
accommodate these changes
• Cannot expect the same constellation of
partners or individuals to remain static – plan for
turnover in advance
• Collaboration costs money – must be budgeted
for – cannot rely on donor funds in the long term
• Collaboration across sectors is more difficult but
equally important
Eastern Cape Findings
• Eastern Cape only province reviewed, but
findings shared & corroborated with other
provincial stakeholders
• Overall positive:
• provincial collaboration has worked well, the
improved DWAF / municipal relationships are
very evident” … “the dynamics have changed ….
to more of a municipality-to-municipality lessonlearning platform” (p33)
• “the collaboration has drawn councillors into
discussions [which has been very positive]”
(p33)
Eastern Cape Findings
• “as a result of collaboration there is a more
widely-owned, more coherent policy framework
for water service and implementation issues are
being solved pragmatically” (p31)
• “the nature of collaboration has become
increasingly practical, assisting in solving
operational issues” (p34)
• Yet on occasion “collaborative structures are
reacting to external changes rather than
influencing them (which) highlights a need for
greater political engagement in the future” (p31)
General Findings
Sector pro-active in
adapting to change
Strong focus on
supporting municipalities
Good progress being made
on backlog (sanitation?)
Less focus on performance
of service delivery
Champions and brokers
helped greatly, but are
individuals
Expansion and staff
turnover a challenge
Service delivery political:
technocrats cannot
stand apart
Involvement of councillors
crucial (cf E Cape)
Observations & issues for the
future
2 Key Observations
Approach for Future
• Collaboration to be
more integrated
within municipal
wide systems
• Putting municipalities
first in collaboration
• Changing dynamics
- shifting towards
regulation and
accountability
• Taking the customers’
perspective
• Ensuring gains are
sustainable
It seems that there are
4
major shifts
( happening or awaited )
4 Shifts
1. Political and fiscal decentralisation
2. Moving from delivery of infrastructure to
delivering services
3. Moving from individual relationships to
organisational collaboration
4. Bringing the technocrats and politicians
together
The review presents a series of
options (supported by
international ‘best practice’) that
the sector may want to consider.
Aligning the sector with national and
municipal systems
Water Services Collaboration Stays within the Sector
Water
Services
DPLG
&
DWAF
Water
Resources
DHLG
Other Sector
Ministries
MIG
MUNICIPALITY
WSA
WSPs
Water
Councillor

Responsible for sectors, eg Housing,
Municipal Services etc
 Delivering Infrastructure in all sectors (MIG)
 Develop Human Resources in municipality
 Entire Council makes water decisions
Major Collaborative relationships
MIG PMUs
Municipal
managers
Human
resources
department
A focus on
service
sustainability
Aligning the sector with national and
municipal systems
IGR Act
proposal
INTERMINISTERIAL
COMMITTEE/CABINET
WATER SECTOR
INTERGOVERNMENTAL
FORUM
Policy, Legislation,
Coordination & Performance
WATER SERVICES
SECTOR LEADERSHIP
GROUP
Policy guidance &
coordination
DWAF /
DPLG
relationship
Overall responsible for
policy, legislation and
performance
WS COORD
COMMITTEE (MCC)
National coordination
& reporting
PROVINCIAL WATER SERVICES SECTOR FORA
Development of strategies & plans, service delivery
issues, reporting, lesson learning
This interface will be key
How Water Sector and
MIG collaborative
structure relate
MUNICIPAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
TASK TEAM
Policy, Legislation,
Coordination & Performance
MUNICIPAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
TECHNICAL TASK TEAM
Role for a
broker?
(Treasury?)
National Coordination,
Monitoring, reporting
PROVINCIAL MI TASK TEAMS
Coordination, IDP process
Political
viewpoint
Harnessing Political Will
Links between
technocrats &
politicians
INTERMINISTERIAL
COMMITTEE/CABINET
Overall responsible for
policy, legislation and
performance
WATER SECTOR
INTERGOVERNMENTAL
FORUM
Learn from experience
of councillor
involvement
Make us of the IGR bill
Policy, Legislation,
Coordination & Performance
WATER
SERVICES
SECTOR
LEADERSHIP
GROUP
Policy guidance
& coordination
WS COORD
COMMITTEE
(MCC)
National
coordination
& reporting
Consider a National
Intergovernmental
forum for water sector
Look at lack of MEC
challenge and how best
to work with SALGA
Focussing on service performance as
well as infrastructure delivery
“…consumers are in the best place to monitor the
effectiveness of water services provision.”
Strengthening the voice of consumers
“it is the responsibility of WSAs to put in place
mechanisms to facilitate, listen and respond to
consumer and citizen feedback on the quality of
service delivery”
Strategic Framework for Water Services
Focussing on service performance as
well as infrastructure delivery
DWAF
National
Politicians
Grievance
mechanisms
Customer
Municipal
Admin/WSA
Councillors
complaints /
consultations
Consumer voice
Voice within the
WSPs
Consumers &
Civil Society
collaboration?
Internalising collaboration
Placed people
Moving beyond
champions
Job descriptions
Spreading
ownership
for
process
Internal ‘process
budgets’
Where to start?
• There are “eight actions … which could
shift both the agenda and the substance of
collaboration towards municipalities and
the consumer” (p53)
Areas for action
Benchmarking
Performance and
publicity
IGR forum for water
Consumer collaboration
National treasury / broker
WSDP / IDP / MIG
relations
Municipal system risk
Internal decision into
collaborative process
Recommended Actions
1. Rapidly implement a unified system of WSA
benchmarking and ensure all participate by mid 2006
2. Disseminate information on sector performance thru
publicity campaigns & raise awareness of developments
within sector
3. Develop policies on customer involvement &
collaboration within munix and roll out thru provincial
sector fora
4. Consider establishing a National Water Sector
Intergovernmental Forum (IGR) – thereby anchoring the
sector into the political realm
5. Lobby National Treasury to play honest broker role in
cross-sector collaboration
Recommended Actions
6. Develop guidelines to better integrate the WSDP with
the IDP … hand over primary responsibility for
coordinating WS infrastructure to MIG fora, clarifying
back-stopping role of DWAF & how MIG will relate to
service delivery (other than infrastructure)
7. Review how WS sector support relates to broader
strengthening of munic systems (conduct risk analysis
of these from sector standpoint)
8. Review how decision-making within stakeholders
related to collaborative processes and discuss
strategies for better institutionalisation of organisational
interface
Open questions to consider
 Treasury’s role in sector
& inter-sector
collaboration? Enhance
its ability to improve
effectiveness of
resource allocation,
consistency of policy &
links with LG.
 Given centrality of
infrastructure spending
in new accelerated &
shared economic
growth plan –
collaborative approach
is essential & Treasury
has critical role?
 Sustainable budget for
collaboration &
importance of flexible
resources?
 Does IGR open
opportunity to entrench
collaboration?
Resource allocation job descriptions –
political leadership?
 Budgeting for
collaboration &
importance of flexible
resources? (MIG 1%
lost opportunity)
Open questions to consider
 Horse before the cart?
LG/dplg vis a vis WS
sector/DWAF
 Premiers’ offices key to
coordinating across
sectors?
 Taking sector wide
approach in other
sectors, esp re donor
coordination? When is
a sector ready?
 Harmonising reporting
systems – with LG at
the centre?
 Does collaboration
streamline or
proliferate planning
and when?
 Recognising
decentralisation is a
process – not
overnight instruction
 Will ‘regulatory
collaboration’ look
significantly different
from existing
collaboration –given
change in relationship?