WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE AGENCY BILL SIGNED INTO LAW

WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE AGENCY BILL SIGNED INTO LAW

• 27 August 2024
• Water & Sanitation
• SA Legal Academy

Please note: The Act was gazetted on 2 September 2024 and is not yet in force.

The Presidency has issued a media statement announcing that the South African National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency SOC Ltd Bill has been signed into law, its ‘B’ version having been passed by Parliament in May 2024.

Once in force, the Act will establish the agency as a new state-owned company (SOC) and the custodian of national water resources infrastructure. The SOC will be responsible for infrastructure management and development – as well as for mobilising finance for new projects. In that regard, the statement alludes to expectations of ‘innovative models to crowd in private investment’.

The new piece of legislation is apparently underpinned by ‘an emerging recognition of the need for a stronger public sector in the key area(s) of infrastructure development, effective maintenance, operation and (the) management of existing infrastructure to support social and economic development’. Once operationalised, the new SOC is expected to ensure that the value of water resources infrastructure as a ‘national asset’ is ‘effectively maintained and sustained in order to minimise the risk to end-users’. This is according to a memorandum on the objects of the Bill concerned.

At the time of writing, the Act had yet to be published.

• Presidency media statement
• Bill’s ‘B’ version

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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