This report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the Programme of Work and Budget of the Regional Development Policy Committee. This report is an output from the OECD Programme on Water Security for Sustainable Development in Africa, launched in 2018 by the OECD Secretary General and developed in cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco and the World Water Council, as a follow-up to the 6th edition of the King Hassan II Great World Water Prize.
The report is the result of a year-long policy dialogue with more than 80 stakeholders from public, private and non-profit sectors and representatives from the city of Cape Town and across all levels of government in South Africa. Special thanks are extended to the Government of Flanders, Belgium for the financial support provided to carry out this policy dialogue.
Maria Salvetti, Water Economist and Policy Analyst in the OECD Water Governance Programme, drafted the report and co‑ordinated the underlying policy dialogue with the support of Elisa Elliott Alonso, Junior Policy Analyst (Chapter 1), under the supervision of Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division in the CFE.Thanks are conveyed to OECD colleagues who provided valuable comments on the draft, especially Oriana Romano (Head of the Water Governance Programme), and Xavier Leflaive (Head of the Water and Adaptation Unit).
The OECD Secretariat is grateful for the excellent support and commitment from the city of Cape Town Water and Sanitation Department, in particular Michael Webster, Executive Director of Water and Waste, and Michael Killick, Director of Bulk Services, and from the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership, notably Selwyn Willoughby and Amanda Gcanga, both Programme Lead. Special thanks are also conveyed to John Dini from the Water Research Commission for his support and contribution.
Furthermore, the policy dialogue benefitted from insights from peer reviewers who contributed through their valuable expertise and country experience, participated in virtual missions and provided international best practices as well as guidance on the report, namely: Caroline Figuères, Strategic Advisor Water, Figuères Consultancy; Neil McLeod, Consultant; and Dr Koen Verbist, Programme Specialist, UNESCO.
As part of an inclusive and bottom-up consultation process, the draft report was shared for comments with more than 80 stakeholders from the city of Cape Town and South Africa (see Annex A) who were engaged throughout the policy dialogue via interviews and webinars. Earlier versions of this report were discussed with Cape Town authorities and stakeholders during two webinar held on 28 October 2020 and 28 January 2021, as well asat the 14th meeting of the OECD Water Governance Initiative (2‑3 November 2020). Special thanks are conveyed to the following stakeholders, in particular for their written comments on earlier drafts: Patrick Mlilo and Makombe Tendayi from the National Department for Water and Sanitation; Melissa Lintnaar-Strauss from the Regional Office of the National Department for Water and Sanitation; John Dini from the Water Research Commission; Karen Shippey from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning of the Western Cape Government; Gail Cleaver-Christie, Jeanne Gouws and Andrew Turner from CapeNature; Michael Killick from the Water and Sanitation Department of the city of Cape Town; Rolfe Eberhard, consultant for the city of Cape Town; Selwyn Willoughby and Amanda Gcanga from the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership; Chris Serjak from the United States Agency for International Development; Rob Uijterlinde from Dutch Water Authorities; Barbara Schreiner form the Water Integrity Network; Bernard Barraqué from CIRED-CNRS; and Claude Ménard from Paris University Panthéon-Sorbonne.
The report was submitted for approval by written procedure to the Regional Development Policy Committee on 5 February 2021 under the cote CFE/RDPC(2021)1. Special thanks are extended to Pilar Philip for preparing the report for publication and to Eleonore Morena for editing and formatting the report.