Issued by: Meropa Communications
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY PROF KADER ASMAL, MP
PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING A COMPANY TO PROMOTE THE EXPORT OF SOUTH AFRICAN WATER EXPERTISE AND TECHNOLOGY ABROAD: PARKTONIAN HOTEL, BRAAMFONTEIN 12 OCTOBER 1998 AT 12H00
Thank you for coming along today. At a time when South Africa is more export orientated than ever before, considering the effects of the global economic and currency difficulties, what we have to say today is or particular interest and significance.
The South African Tourism Board coined the slogan, "A World in One Country" - referring to the great variation in scenery and tourist attractions in our country. One could actually use this same expression when referring to the water problems in South Africa, as most of these that occur in the world today are to be found within our borders.
Our average annual rainfall is only slightly more than half the world average and projections indicate that our water demand could overtake water supply in some 25-30 years' time. Absolute shortages already occur in certain regions, which brought the need for various inter-basin transfer schemes; rainfall is unevenly distributed; extended and severe droughts regularly occur; and evaporation rates are high.
These are the "givens". What we have to live with and adapt to. They are the vagaries of nature in this part of the world. To these should be added the impacts of socio-economic developments and considerations, such as:
Capacity building requirements, at all levels, to deal effectively with the water management requirements in the short and long term.
Planning and construction of water resource projects designed to even out the wild variations in the water cycle.
In Summary then: South Africa is a water-stressed country where water planners and managers are being faced with increasingly complex issues. However, adversity breeds ingenuity, and it is exactly within this context of sustained challenge that the South African water industry has. Through extensive research and entrepreneurship, succeeded in generating an imposing body of innovative expertise and technology.
It can also be foreseen that the important policy and legislative initiatives of the recent past will provide new stimulus towards expanding the existing portfolio of know-how and technology. I am referring to (and could speak at length on each, but shall resist this temptation);
Collectively, these policy and legislative developments are recognised internationally as enlightened and innovative. They certainly do create a sound framework for the effective and equitable management of our water resources in the future - provided that home-bred expertise and technology can progressively be refined and developed to maintain, and even further enhance, the present levels of excellence.
There is growing and widespread international recognition for South African technological achievements and managerial abilities in the field of water.
However, in spite of the high profile of our expertise and technology abroad, very little has been done to capitalise on this situation by way of export promotion. Now that the political climate has been transformed, some individual companies have already made significant strides in this direction. Generally, however, efforts thus far have been isolated and fragmented, and the time has come that marketing should be done professionally and collectively.
Water expertise and technology cover a very wide spectrum - ranging from wastewater and potable water treatment to irrigation technology, from desalination to urban distribution networks, from cooling systems to pumping technology, and so forth. Therefore there exists a huge untapped potential for the creation of synergy through the collective promotion of South Africa's water industry. This would inter alia facilitate opportunities for the establishment of project-based strategic alliances, and the initiation of joint ventures with partners in other countries.
A further problem has been the fact that considerable operating expertise resides in the public sector. This initiative, taken together with provisions in the Water Services Act, will allow organisations such as Rand Water and Umgeni Water to participate. I was struck a few years ago when a representative from one of the private British companies told me that Rand Water was as large and at least as competent as his own organisation. The extent to which Umgeni's expertise is sought reinforces the point. Here we have a real opportunity for public/private partnership, and, indeed, the deployment of university expertise.
Against this background, one must express appreciation of the initiative shown today in establishing a company to promote the export of South African water expertise and technology abroad. Not only should it significantly benefit the South African water industry per se, but, from a national perspective, job creation and the earning of foreign currency would be obvious benefits. The foreign currency aspect is obvious if one considers the extent to which the decline in the rand favours exports.
The Water Research Commission took the initiative to facilitate the establishment of the company, in pursuance of an idea - mooted by Mr Mike Muller, now Director-General - which I raised at the 1996 Port Elizabeth conference of the Water Institute of Southern Africa. A number of other organisations were then mobilised to assist in laying the groundwork. The purpose of the meeting which will follow this press conference is to mobilise the support of prospective stakeholders in the company, and to mandate a (still-to-be-elected) steering committee to register the company and develop a business plan. The aim is to set up the company as a going concern early in 1999. The proposed company will be a non-profit private company. It has no name yet, and this is another issue to be clarified this afternoon. Two names that are being suggested are Water Promotions of South Africa and Water South Africa. But surely a pooling of ideas can improve on that?
I should emphasise that this initiative fits well with the Department of Trade and Industry's desire to see industries organise to promote their own interests. I am pleased to note that this initiative has been guided by people drawn from that DTI background.
Where, then are the prospective markets, and what type of services can the company render?
As I have indicated, a few individual companies are already marketing their products in certain countries abroad. However, taking the collective viewpoint and considering the South African water industry as a whole, the objective should be to identify those countries which have water related-needs which can be met by South African water expertise and technology on the basis of a definite competitive advantage.
The obvious question is whether there are areas in the water field where South Africa has a competitive edge. fortunately, there are. Not only many African countries, but also other water-stressed countries could benefit from what South Africa can offer. Particularly in the African context, South Africa has the additional advantage of much greater logistical accessibility, when compared to suppliers from the developed nations.
Part of our commitment to an African Renaissance has to be to ensure that the continent has the practical skills and tools it needs to move forward. This initiative fits well with that theme. To be part of the African Renaissance, we must also ensure that all South Africans participate and that this is not just a front from old white capital. Again, fortunately, I am happy to say that with entrepreneurs like Rufus Maruma, technical specialists like Truman Gobaq in this sector, I am sure that the organisation will soon come to reflect the whole spectrum of our society.
What are the kind of services which the company can offer? Actual sales will remain the responsibility of individual companies. The company will perform a promotional function, creating opportunities for South African experts, consultants, manufacturers of equipment, contractors and suppliers to access export markets and to gain positions of strength in these markets.
This is an ambitious venture, but well warranted by the potential benefits to the water industry and the country. I believe that the South African water industry has, particularly in the last four and a half years, developed to the extent that it has become a national strength after having been treated, certainly by past Governments, as a backwater area of activity. So, as I end, let us use an apt quotation - "the tide should now be taken at the flood".