The New Water Legislation of Zimbabwe and South Africa – Comparison of Legal and Institutional Reform

Abstract

Recently, several new pieces of water legislation have been promulgated in both Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa. The new acts are an attempt to correct injustices of a colonial past and to trigger development towards effective, equitable and efficient integrated water resources management influenced by the policy decisions in Agenda 21 and the need to respect economic and social human rights. This article aims at identifying and describing factors of prime importance in the process of legal and institutional reform. Major factors are earmarked and derived from the proceedings in Zimbabwe and are compared with the situation in South Africa. Thorough analysis by the author of proceedings, preambles, memoranda, legislation and addenda has induced roughly 5 major reform issues:

• The call for equitable water distribution based on a widely consented water resources management strategy;

• The need for effective and efficient integrated water resources management conducive to stakeholder participation through decentralisation processes;

• The redressing of legal shortcomings in former water legislation with the emphasis on the introduction of integrated approaches;

• The introduction of instruments of cost recovery for water resources management;

• The need to develop human resources capacity and institutional strength within the implementing agencies.

For both Southern African states, these issues appear to be of comparable importance as major triggers for legal and institutional reform, although not always in the same sense.The resulting most important legal and institutional changes are presented, discussed and compared. Finally, prospects for and constraints on implementation of the new water legislation in these countries are compared.