Potential solutions for increasing resilience of the drinking water supply through the public–private partnership in a South African municipality

Tererai Nhokodi; Nhamo Muntigwende; Kelly Maguire; Jozef Ristvej; Brendan Wilhelmi; Roman Tandlich

doi:10.5055/jem.0760

Authors

Tererai Nhokodi, BPharm https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0959-3298
Nhamo Muntigwende, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3377-526X
Kelly Maguire, BPharm
Jozef Ristvej, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2290-1470
Brendan Wilhelmi, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7854-891X
Roman Tandlich, PhD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9696-0473

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.0760

Keywords:

disaster risk managment, drinking water supply, drinking water resilence, Makana Local Municapality, public–private partnership

Abstract

There has existed a need to increase the resilience of the drinking water supply in Makana Local Municipality in the scope of the 2018-2019 drought and the municipal water supply outages. A combination of the know-how and mandates of local government and the private water-retail sector could provide solutions. In order to achieve successful implementation, the authors present here tools from the disaster risk management legislation in South Africa for operationalization of this public–private partnership. These are tools based on Chapter 5, part 1, paragraphs 42 (1d) and Chapter 5, part 2, section/paragraph 47 (1a) i-iv of the Disaster Management Act no. 57 of 2002. Regulations for the recruitment and participation of volunteers in disaster risk management should be applied through the establishment of the volunteer units and the component for drinking water provision. The use of volunteer units with the engagement of the private sector would provide additional tools for the implementation of the preparedness and mitigation measures for drinking water provision in Makana Local Municipality. Local solutions for increasing the resilience of drinking water provision are available and identified based on the modeling work of a container solution. Potential implementation of that container solution for increasing resilience of drinking water provision would require an investment of 6.81-13.00 percent of the 2017-2019 annual budget of Makana Local Municipality. At any given time in 2018, the probability of the emergency treatment activation would be about 33.4 percent in Makana Local Municipality. An example of the ad hoc management about the provision of borehole water from 2019 indicates that planning is critical to success of the increased resilience initiatives. Onsite storage of water during the constant supply might be necessary to ensure treatment and drinking water provision.

Author Biographies

Tererai Nhokodi, BPharm

Disaster Management and Ethics Research Group (DMERG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

Nhamo Muntigwende, PhD

Disaster Management and Ethics Research Group (DMERG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

Kelly Maguire, BPharm

Disaster Management and Ethics Research Group (DMERG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

Jozef Ristvej, PhD

Department of Crisis Management, Faculty of Security Engineering, University of Žilina, Žilina, Slovakia

Brendan Wilhelmi, PhD

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

Roman Tandlich, PhD

Disaster Management and Ethics Research Group (DMERG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa; Faculty of Health Sciences, Technical University of Liberec, Liberec, Czech Republic

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