INCREASING SUSTAINABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES

Transcription

1 INCREASING SUSTAINABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES FINAL REPORT FEBRUARY, 2010 This report was produced for review by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It was prepared by The Louis Berger Group, Inc. in partnership with the Department of Provincial and Local Government in the Republic of South Africa and the National Treasury of South Africa. Contract No. 674-M

2 INCREASING SUSTAINABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES FEBRUARY 2010 FINAL REPORT Report Type: Final Report Award No.: GS-00F-0004L, Order No. 674-M Period Ending: September 30, 2009 Submission Date: March 2010 Prepared for: Leona Sasinkova Contracting Officer United States Agency for International Development/Southern Africa Prepared by: Louis Berger Group, Inc M Street, NW Washington, DC DISCLAIMER The author s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

3 CONTENTS ACRONYMS... II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 1 Context and Challenges... 3 SOUTH AFRICA LOCAL GOVERNMENT... 3 Brief history of USAID Support to Service Delivery, Housing, and Local Governance... 4 ISLGS Program Overview... 5 Building the Foundation for Sustainable Service Delivery... 6 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION... 6 Delivery and Innovation CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES Growth with Efficiency MODERN ENERGY SERVICES Toward Sustainable Development CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT Joint Efforts Cross-Fertilization SUCCESS FACTORS AND THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY Flexible, Results-Based Approach Capacity: The Challenge to Sustainability ISLGS FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS I

4 ACRONYMS ASE Alliance to Save Energy CBO Community-based organization CEF Central Energy Fund CESA Consulting Engineers of South Africa CIDB Construction Industry Development Board CIP Comprehensive Infrastructure Planning DBSA Development Bank of Southern Africa DEAT Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism DORA Division of Revenue Act dplg Department of Provincial and Local Government DPW Department of Public Works EBRU Environmental Biotechnology Research Unit of Rhodes University EBU Electronic Bailiff Units IAPS Integrated Algal Ponding System IDP Integrated Development Planning ISGLS Increasing Sustainable Local Government Services JW KZN - LED MIG NEEA Johannesburg Water KwaZulu-Natal Light emitting diode Municipal Infrastructure Grant National Energy Efficiency Agency NERT NGO NMBM NT PEP PPT REEEP SALGA SANERI SANParks SEA SMME SO6 SOO UJ UPS USAID USEPA WCWDM WSAs National Energy Response Team Non-governmental organization Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality National Treasury Project Execution Plan Project Preparation Trust Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership South African Local Government Association South African National Energy Research Institute South African National Parks Sustainable Energy Africa Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Strategic Objective Six Statement of Objectives University of Johannesburg Uninterrupted power supply United States Agency for International Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Water Service Authorities ISLGS FINAL REPORT ACRONYMS II

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Increasing Sustainable Local Government Services (ISGLS) Program, a program undertaken in partnership between the government of South Africa and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and according to the strategic objective agreement to improve local government service delivery, was initiated in December 2005, and implemented in cooperation with the South African Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg) and the National Treasury. Technical assistance for the implementation of the ISLGS Program was provided by the Louis Berger Group, Inc., under a three year base period, five year option period Task Order awarded in accordance with the terms and conditions of GSA MOBIS Contract No. GS-00F- 0004L. The Statement of Objectives (SOO) for the Task Order covered three phases: assessment, design and implementation, with USAID approval required at the completion of each phase prior to moving on to the next phase. The ISLGS Task Order called for the development and implementation of a program in selected areas that would assist in improving the delivery of sustainable local government services in South Africa. The program was targeted at municipalities that provide basic infrastructure (housing, water, sanitation, electricity, transportation, solid waste management, etc.) primarily to the historically disadvantaged population. The project s objectives were adjusted slightly in late 2006 to focus on four program elements to better align to the US Government s new foreign assistance Operational Program Framework. The four elements were: 1) Local Government and Decentralization; 2) Clean Water and Sanitation; 3) Modern Energy Services; and, 4) Clean Human Environment. In its implementation period, ISGLS saw the construction and rehabilitation of water services infrastructure that brought clean drinking water to more than 3 million South Africans in over 70 municipalities in five provinces. ISLGS supported the South African Government in achieving its Millennium Development Goal by eradicating more than 123,000 bucket sanitation systems and providing formal, dignified sanitation to 750,000 people from historically disadvantaged communities. Through two highly effective partnerships, one with the US-based Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), and the other with the South African National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), ISLGS helped plan and implement a wide range of municipal and national energy efficiency projects resulting in energy savings of over 140 million kilowatt hours of electricity. It is important to note that the energy savings achieved through the ASE partnership were the result of avoiding over 12 million kiloliters of water wastage related to municipal drinking water provision. By enhancing project planning, packaging, and implementation management skills and providing fieldbased technical assistance in municipalities, ISGLS was able to mobilize over $350 million for more than 250 water, sanitation and energy infrastructure projects. Through a number training alliances with dplg, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), local NGOs and the private sector, over 2,600 local government officials representing over 200 municipalities in all nine provinces received US Government-assisted training under the ISLGS program to improve sustainable service delivery. Key training modules included infrastructure procurement reform, project preparation, sustainable water and sanitation technology, solid waste management, and municipal infrastructure operations and maintenance. ISLGS was able to meet, and in most cases vastly exceed, all targets for each of the four program elements. Targets were periodically revised upward to reflect the success of the ISLGS Program. The single exception was the cumulative target for global climate change training, with the program attaining 67% of the target. This is mainly reflective of the relatively large number of well-resourced climate change education activities in South Africa and the desire not to duplicate on-going training activities already in place. In addition to these accomplishments, ISLGS worked ISLGS FINAL REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

6 hard to put in place legacy mechanisms to ensure that the effort to promote sustainable service delivery in South Africa will continue after the project. The primary South African Government counterpart for the ISLGS project was the dplg which is responsible for promoting efficient and effective local government. The dplg provided continuous and timely support for ISLGS local government activities and facilitated successful collaborations with municipalities, provinces, and other national government departments. Support from the dplg was critical to the success of the ISLGS Project. ISLGS FINAL REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2

7 SECTION 1 SOUTH AFRICA LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES South Africa is a vibrant democracy, a powerful regional participant in the free market, an active player in globalization, and a role model for the rest of the continent. South Africa is committed to a form of democracy that is genuine, rooted in participation, and characterized by decentralized governance wherever appropriate, with administrative and fiscal responsibilities allocated to the lowest level of government whenever reasonable. In 2000, South Africa consolidated 843 municipalities into 284, amalgamating what were once primarily wealthy communities with historically disadvantaged communities. The new local government structure created three categories of municipalities, with varying degrees and levels of capacity. A primary objective of the South African Government since 2000 has been to strengthen these 284 municipalities, with a particular focus on increasing the access by historically-disadvantaged people to housing and basic services that they were denied under the Apartheid system of government. Municipalities are mandated to provide municipal services, including water, sanitation, electricity, basic health care, and affordable housing and to design and manage local economic development programs, including infrastructure improvement projects, through participatory integrated development planning. District councils are responsible for establishing the framework for the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process, under which all the local councils within the district municipality operate. Local councils are in turn required to ensure substantial community participation in the development of their IDPs. The post apartheid, democratically elected government of South Africa inherited immense challenges as a legacy of the unjust practices of the previous regime. In particular, the settlement pattern mirrored Apartheid policies, resulting in islands of rich, advantaged, well serviced white areas within a sea of poverty, comprising the poor black majority. This majority was provided with minimal or no services, only rudimentary shelter and inadequate social and health facilities. Furthermore, the democratically elected government ISLGS FINAL REPORT SOUTH AFRICA LOCAL GOVERNMENT 3

8 inherited a debt burden and an unsustainable government financial system that made it difficult to deploy the necessary resources to overcome the legacy of Apartheid. The challenges faced by municipalities in overcoming this legacy are much broader and complex than simply providing improved services in water, sanitation, energy, and housing. Municipalities must also plan for ways to expand local economic development opportunities so that the population can pay for services and to obtain financing to expand services. There is also concern about the impact of HIV/AIDS on the sustainable delivery of services. Integrated planning is essential when evaluating the use of alternative models of delivery for services, in order to ensure that linkages are made between each type of service, housing policies, and the private sector which foster sustainable cost recovery practices. BRIEF HISTORY OF USAID SUPPORT TO SERVICE DELIVERY, HOUSING, AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE In its 1997 Strategic Plan, USAID expressed its dismay and concern at the plight of historically disadvantaged citizens of South Africa, and noted: Perhaps the most glaring mark of economic disempowerment has been lack of access to housing and basic urban services. In that Plan, USAID committed itself to strengthening the capacity of South Africa to address the vast disparities in housing delivery and basic services accorded to various economic classes of citizens. In comparison to all other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, USAID assistance programs providing support to South Africa in the areas of service delivery, housing, and local governance have needed to be highly targeted and strategically designed in order to be effective in generating a positive impact, given the size, sophistication, and relatively vast resources of the South African economy. In light of this fact, USAID made a clear decision in its 1997 Strategic Plan to concentrate its programs to assist historically disadvantaged communities as the highest priority The quality of governance has been a particular focus, and USAID has through the years directed considerable resources towards strengthening the integrity, transparency, and responsiveness of local and national governments. USAID has also been particularly active in the financial services sector, helping to support, improve the effectiveness, and broaden the role of the private sector in the delivery of housing and basic services, particularly in low-income markets. The basic tools that USAID has employed to pursue these objectives have remained largely unchanged since These include technical assistance, alternative service delivery (through public-private and publicpublic partnerships), training, credit support and facilitation (such as the Development Credit Authority program), and a wide range of policy advice. To this end, USAID has pursued directed interventions in key areas of policy development, provision of credit, institutional strengthening for management and service delivery, and local-level environmental management. It has further concentrated on sharing best practices, introducing new technologies and methodologies, facilitating collaboration between key development role players, building business and strategic alliances between the United States and South Africa, and leveraging the resources of South Africa s burgeoning private sector to support the needs and expand the opportunities of South Africa s poor. The ISLGS Program was designed to integrate and build on the objectives, successes, and lessons from USAID s rich history in South Africa to increase access to shelter and basic municipal services for the historically disadvantaged population in a sustainable manner. ISLGS FINAL REPORT SOUTH AFRICA LOCAL GOVERNMENT 4

9 ISLGS PROGRAM OVERVIEW The Increasing Sustainable Local Government Services program was implemented under an 8 year, $30 million Task Order with a three year base period ($10 million), five year option period ($20 million) awarded in accordance with the terms and conditions of GSA MOBIS Contract No. GS-OOF- 0004L. With the change of the USAID/South Africa mission to a regional mandate in 2007, the option was not exercised. The Statement of Objectives (SOO) for the Task Order covered three phases: assessment, design and implementation, with USAID approval required at the completion of each phase prior to moving on to the next phase. The purpose was to develop and implement a program to improve sustainable local government service delivery in South Africa. The program was targeted at municipalities which were addressing the basic service needs of the historically disadvantaged population with focus on: Housing, Water &Sanitation Electricity, Solid Waste Management The project consisted of the following three phases: 1) ASSESSMENT of the local government service sector; 2) PROGRAM DESIGN for improving sustainable service delivery based on the assessment findings; and, 3) IMPLEMENTATION of the assistance program. The main goals of the assistance program were to: Increase the number of households to obtain new and/or improved basic services (i.e. water, sanitation, power supply, waste management); Leverage funding to increase investment in basic services; Improve the policy and regulatory environment for service delivery; Enhance (the use of) publicprivate partnerships; Strengthen community-based initiatives to improve services. The contract was awarded in December 2005 under the operative housing and urban environment Strategic Objective Six (SO6) and had four quantitative and two qualitative indicators: Increased rand value of new or improved municipal services (R Million); Increased number of households assisted to obtain new or improved services (thousands/households); Capacity building initiatives in service delivery and sustainable human settlements undertaken (narrative); Improved policy environment (narrative); Reduce volume of water loss and wastage (millions of cubic meters) ; Improve energy efficiency (GWh saved). In 2006, the USAID/South Africa housing and urban environment portfolio was merged with the democracy and governance program under a new Strategic Objective: Strengthened Capacity to Deliver Sustainable and Accessible Integrated Municipal and Justice Services. In late 2006, there was a changeover to the new foreign assistance Operational Program Framework, and the ISLGS program was adjusted to accommodate the new standardized indicators as adopted by USAID/South Africa in early Following this change, program reported against 13 quantitative indicators under 4 functional objectives, 3 program areas and 4 elements: Governing Justly and Democratically: GOOD GOVERNANCE - Local Government and Decentralization; Investing in People: HEALTH - Clean Water and Sanitation Services; Economic Growth: INFRASTRUCTURE -Modern Energy Services; ENVIRONMENT - Clean Human Environment ISLGS FINAL REPORT SOUTH AFRICA LOCAL GOVERNMENT 5

10 SECTION 1I LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY The assessment phase of the ISLGS program identified capacity constraints as one of the major impediments to improved and expanded municipal infrastructure development and service delivery in South Africa. In addition to human resource gaps in terms of absolute numbers and specific expertise in infrastructure delivery and managerial and operational capacity, a serious lack of reliable information on backlogs and alignment between housing, IDPs and sectoral development plans and strategies was also identified. Thus, a major component of the ISLGS program has been to build municipal capacity in selected strategic areas. As USAID had already established a large scale municipal capacity building program addressing general administrative issues such as budgeting, human resource management, and supply chain management, the focus of the ISLGS program has been specifically on technical areas related to infrastructure planning, procurement, project implementation, operations and maintenance. The exception has been technical assistance and mentoring provided by ISLGS related to revenue enhancement from the reduction of non-revenue water in municipal water provision. While there was broad agreement within the South African Government that capacity issues were severely constraining local government service delivery, there was concern that ad-hoc and uncoordinated training sponsored by the various national departments and donors supporting the local government sector would further tax the time of local government officials and limit impact. For this reason, considerable efforts were made to work jointly with our partners to understand their priorities, identify appropriate ISLGS training resources, and undertake joint planning for the rollout of a program of training that would leverage existing government capacity building programs. MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROCUREMENT REFORM In the past, less precise and less stringent procurement requirements, combined with a lack of municipal capacity, have opened the door for inferior quality, non-delivery, and often overpriced construction of municipal infrastructure. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) was set up in 2002 by the South African Government to provide strategic leadership and a regulatory framework for the construction industry. The guidance and regulatory framework is critical to building capacity of the industry in South Africa to deliver physical infrastructure up to global standards in order to support social and economic development and achieve national transformation objectives. As part of the municipal procurement reform agenda, new supply chain regulations and procurement legislation were introduced to make the procurement process more efficient, transparent, remove opportunities for corruption, and to make sure that needed infrastructure is delivered on time and within budget. Recognizing that improved service delivery would only come when both municipalities and the construction industry understood and put the new rules into practice, ISLGS joined forces with CIDB and the dplg to undertake a massive training effort to roll out and ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 6

11 consolidate infrastructure procurement reforms. The first phase of the capacity building program saw ISLGS conduct an extensive series of awareness workshops with municipal procurement officials, drawing on resources and training materials developed by CIDB. This phase also included in depth compliance meetings with senior municipal staff including: Municipal Managers, Chief Financial Officers, and heads of Supply Chain Management departments. The second phase focused on hands on workshops designed to assist municipalities to implement procurement reforms and, finally, on assisting CIDB itself to develop and implement a sustainability plan for continued support to municipal infrastructure procurement reform support post-islgs. This highly successful program trained a total of 1,496 municipal officials (1,100 males and 396 females) from over 200 municipalities and made great strides in terms of bringing the principles and practices embodied in infrastructure procurement reform legislation into the mainstream of municipal practice. Measurable results include a 220% increase in the number of municipalities registered and using the CIDB register of projects (from 77 to 170), thereby bringing them into compliance with statutory requirements. A further reflection of the increased acceptance of procurement reform principles, and one celebrated by CIDB, was the dramatic 312% increase in the number of projects registered on CIDB s Register of Projects (from 812 to 2,537). These results were for the period March 2008 through August 2009 as measured by CIDB through regular assessments of municipal compliance to the procurement reforms to monitor the impact of the interventions. Integral to the joint training program with CIDB was the development and implementation of a sustainability strategy for CIDB itself to coincide with the completion of the two ISLGS training phases. A number of options were reviewed and the final strategy implemented focused on leveraging the Construction Contact Centers recently established by CIDB in each province. Technical staff at each of the centers was provided additional training as trainers, empowering them to take over the role of providing direct support to municipalities in the future. A major theme and success factor of the ISLGS program that will be discussed later in the Best Practices section of the report was the effort to maximize crossfertilization or synergy among the wide range of ISGLS activities. A good example of the cross fertilization was having our engineering field team for municipal water and sanitation projects reinforce procurement principles and support compliance. Similarly, ISLGS helped build the capacity of engineering and finance consultants deployed to municipalities through other donor programs to support compliance in the municipalities where they were active. PROJECT PREPARATION One of the central themes of the ISLGS project has been the importance of effective project preparation in substantially decreasing the risk in the implementation and closeout phases of municipal infrastructure projects ensuring that scarce implementation resources are optimally utilized. The Project Preparation Trust of KwaZulu Natal (PPT), a strong and effective partner of USAID since 1997, was the natural choice to partner with ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 7

12 ISLGS to continue and expand this important work. A key objective of this partnership was to support the scaling up of PPT s successful regional program in KwaZulu Natal province to the national level. Through the training partnership with PPT, and in close collaboration with provincial housing and infrastructure development officials, a series of one day workshops in project preparation was conducted for 59 municipalities in 3 provinces benefitting more than 250 trainees from local, provincial and national government. The content of the workshops was based on PPT s proven project preparation methodology for the preparation of housing and infrastructure projects which focuses on the early identification and redress of key project risks, facilitates the development of an appropriate and workable project concept, or eliminates unfeasible or inappropriate projects at the earliest possible stage. The objective of scaling up project preparation support to the national level was further consolidated when PPT was selected, on the basis of experience and methodologies developed with USAID support, by the Support Program for Accelerated Infrastructure Development, a joint initiative of the Business Trust and Government, to design and implement a national program of project preparation technical and financial support known as the Ukulungisa Project Preparation Fund. The major impact from these activities has been the firm establishment of enhanced and expanded project preparation within key provincial and national policies and practices. BEST PRACTICE IN FOCUS: USAID-PPT PARTNERSHIP (1993 TO 2009) PPT and USAID have a longstanding relationship which has brought about a wide range of significant impacts in respect to development and democratization, not only for KwaZulu-Natal but also for South Africa as a whole. The relationship commenced in the year preceding South Africa s first democratic elections in 1994 when PPT was established as an organisation specializing in the preparation of developmental projects for disadvantaged communities, with the intention of augmenting government capacity to meet the development demands that would follow the first democratic elections. USAID provided the funding for the establishment of PPT in 1993, and since then six main agreements (plus several contract amendments) have been signed between the two organizations. USAID s funding enabled the establishment of PPT as an innovative organization specializing in project preparation, a first in South Africa. PPT rapidly established itself as an organization capable of effectively preparing a range of developmental projects and doing so at significant scale. The effectiveness of PPT s organizational model was due in large part to its strategy of outsourcing, its effective organizational systems and its strong corporate governance. It was also due to PPT s effective preparation methodology which focuses on the early identification, assessment and elimination of project risks, the utilization of a staged preparation process, a focus not only on project feasibility but also project appropriateness and its effective utilization of recognized project management principles. To date, the direct developmental impacts achieved by PPT at the project level via project preparation are significant. Over $125 million in implementation/capital funding has been leveraged by PPT for over 47,000 disadvantaged households for projects including low income housing, infrastructure, special needs housing, integrated development, economic development, land reform, capacity building and alternative energy. Perhaps PPT s greatest achievement, however, has been its development, refinement and mainstreaming of project preparation methodology itself and the creation of increased awareness of the importance of project preparation. For example, the preparation methodology pioneered by PPT directly informed the preparation approach adopted by the KZN Department of Housing in the mid 1990 s and more recently has informed the approach taken by national programs such as the Support Program for Accelerated Infrastructure Delivery, the Consolidated Infrastructure Program of Support and Ukulungisa Project Preparation Fund (in which PPT is a Joint Venture partner). USAID funding support has also assisted PPT in developing a wide range of replicable development models and methodologies which PPT has documented and which are freely available on its website. PPT has also provided significant capacity building and training assistance to government as well as a range of critical inputs into various provincial and national level policies. Foremost among these has been PPT s contribution to promoting a more effective, broad based and inclusive response to addressing the critical issue of informal settlements. ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 8

13 RURAL SANITATION Job Creation Sanitation In another key partnership for building municipal and community service delivery capacity, ISLGS teamed up with The Mvula Trust, South Africa s leading water and sanitation NGO, to support an approach to on-site sanitation delivery which maximizes local job creation, other local economic benefits, and community participation. The South African Government has recognized the potential of the provision of sanitation in rural areas to generate short-term employment and kick-start small businesses. This approach, called "job creation sanitation", also includes the promotion of SMMEs to supply materials and services to the program. Through the partnership with The Mvula Trust, ISLGS supported a pilot project in the Nhlakuza area, near Richmond, in the umgungundlovu District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal, that saw the construction of 1,652 ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs) using the job creation sanitation approach. While the project delivered improved sanitation to over 6,000 rural people, leveraged close to $1 million of infrastructure funding, and provided job training and employment to 20 community builders, the main impact was the collection and documentation of technical best practices and lessons learned, culminating in a final, district level knowledge sharing event with 58 district and local councilors, officials, and community members. This event was the culmination of a process by which the municipality changed its view and agreed to adopt the community based approach for future infrastructure delivery projects. Equally important, the process led to refinements in the rural job creation sanitation delivery model which The Mvula Trust now employs on its extensive portfolio of rural sanitation projects throughout South Africa. The model now includes a more organized, task-team approach to sanitation which creates a learning environment at project level and more delegation of organizational, managerial and logistics tasks to community level. This means that no matter what technology option is being implemented, there are still a number of quality jobs for community personnel and a strong learning component. Solar-Powered Wastewater Treatment for Rural Communities Wastewater treatment is now a major challenge in many areas of South Africa. A recent study commissioned by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry of wastewater treatment plants outside the main urban centers revealed that only two percent of these plants were complying with effluent discharge standards. Given that many municipalities cannot adequately deal with their existing wastewater flow, providing waterborne sanitation to dense rural communities will require a different approach to conventional operational expenditure-intensive and electricity hungry wastewater treatment. Again partnering with The Mvula Trust, the ISLGS program strongly promoted the introduction of a more sustainable approach to rural municipal wastewater treatment characterized by smaller, simple, energy efficient wastewater treatment plants that do not require high skills levels and unrealistic operations and maintenance budgets to run safely. The approach also recognized the need to realize the potential of the water and nutrients from treated wastewater for local economic development activities such as horticulture. Creating secondary value cycles from wastewater is an important factor in making improved sanitation affordable and sustainable in poor communities. While the principle of integrated and sustainable wastewater treatment includes a wide array of possible technologies, the focus of ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 9

14 the ISLGS support was the Integrated Algal Ponding System (IAPS). IAPS technology was pioneered by Prof William Oswald at Berkley USA over a period of over 40 years. IAPS systems have now been built in many countries including North and South America, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the world. The Environmental Biotechnology Research Unit of Rhodes University (EBRU) has undertaken the demonstration of the technology under South African conditions over the past 15 years and has pioneered the application of the system in the treatment of industrial and mining wastewaters. EBRU has also demonstrated the effective application of IAPS treated effluent in vegetable production as well as the use of algal biomass generated in the process, as a fertilizer equal or superior to chemical fertilizers. The support program included training workshops for municipal officials, site visits to the working demonstration plant at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape, preparation of concept designs and other technical documentation, the sponsoring of technical debates among water professionals, as well as the preparation of technical training materials for distribution. The process has resulted in one municipality, the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape, committing to moving forward with more integrated and sustainable approaches to their wastewater treatment requirements. A key milestone for the future sustainability of the effort was the creation, with ISLGS support, of a multi-stakeholder working group focused on promoting technology choice for sustainable wastewater treatment comprised of key sector groups such as The Mvula Trust, The Development Bank of South Africa, The Department of Water Affairs and Environment, Rhodes University, the South African Local Government Association, and the Water Research Commission. The impact of this effort is best seen in the words of The Mvula Trust; The ISLGS program has enabled Mvula to champion a paradigm shift for small town wastewater treatment in South Africa from one where energy intensive technology was unquestioningly accepted, to a situation where technology choice is now increasing being seen as an important factor in determining the sustainability of services. ISLGS has allowed for a far more critical debate around how approaches to water treatment are, or are not, located in a holistic and sustainable paradigm. Research has been conducted and disseminated, together with presentations to diverse audiences, generating considerable interest amongst a range of stakeholders. Mvula had previously not been involved in wastewater issues, as it had confined itself to the project of onsite sanitation in rural areas. However given the increasing pressures of urbanization, together with impact of failing wastewater treatment works on underserved rural communities, the ISLGS funding has enabled Mvula to make its voice heard in this increasing important issue. This work is ongoing and as climate change begins to move to centre stage, this work becomes ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 10

15 increasingly significant in terms of delivering sustainable solutions to the pressing challenge of water quality and access in the water scarce southern African context. PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS In evaluating potential opportunities during the Assessment Phase, the ISLGS Team employed the concept of seeking tipping points, or specific opportunities where strategically applied support can generate momentum for significant positive impacts. A key tipping point identified was support to the rollout of the new housing delivery policy contained in the 2004 legislation promoting a more sustainable and holistic approach to human settlement development known as Breaking New Ground. What the team observed was a mismatch between the new housing policy and the existing housing delivery system, and no clear plan to bridge the gap between the old and the new. To address this gap, ISLGS again partnered with PPT to help bring into mainstream practice: enhancements to the housing delivery mechanism including improved housing planning, refined rural housing delivery processes, and an improved central project / program tracking system. more sustainable and integrated development at the area / project level via support for local economic development and sustainable energies alongside housing and infrastructure delivery. sustainable energy strategies for the low income housing sector through the refinement and rollout of a potentially replicable model. practical strategies supporting the implementation of the Breaking New Ground policy and the transformation of informal settlements. Some of the key activities that helped produce these results are highlighted below. Rural Housing Delivery In partnership with the KZN Department of Housing, PPT set up a Rural Housing Steering Committee which included representatives from provincial housing and local government departments, PPT, and other stakeholders involved in the delivery of rural housing to identify the range of challenges relating to the planning, approval and delivery of rural housing projects and outline a way forward for to meet the challenges. After conducting a rural housing survey that captured feedback from a range of stakeholders, PPT completed revisions to the Rural Housing Manual, widely used throughout the province as an implementation guideline by government as well as project implementing agents for rural housing projects. Through the process of revising the Rural Housing Manual, systemic blockages in the rural housing delivery mechanism were identified and effective solutions developed. A training workshop for 120 housing delivery stakeholders from national and provincial government, municipalities, and the private sector was then held on the results of the rural housing survey and the subsequent changes to the rural housing process as included in the revised Rural Housing Manual. Key to the success of ISLGS support in unblocking rural housing delivery in KZN was a planning policy position paper prepared by PPT for the management committee of the provincial housing department clarifying the basis for prioritizing rural projects. This submission, although never officially adopted as policy, became the de facto rural housing project approval process for both departments, housing and local government, responsible for rural housing project approval. Furthermore the submission generated lively debate within and between both departments and initiated a number of internal meetings and workshops that eventually led to the streamlining and refinement of the policy to enable a more sustainable rural housing delivery program in the province. Municipal Housing Planning The compilation and submission of municipal housing plans are a fairly recent requirement and many municipalities lack the capacity to ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 11

16 complete comprehensive housing plans. These plans are a prerequisite for the submission and approval of any housing subsidy scheme application, and therefore the lack of capacity in this area represented a major blockage to housing delivery. For this reason, ISLGS partnered with PPT to produce a Housing Plan Manual which specifically assists in the preparation of the required chapter of the municipal Integrated Development Plan focused on known as the Housing Sector Plan. The Housing Plan Manual was then rolled out to 27 municipal officials from 16 municipalities and 49 officials from the KZN Department of Housing through two workshops on the compilation of housing plans. The Manual has been made available as a free resource on the PPT website and was provided at the two training workshops. ISLGS also supported PPT to review and comment on the housing sector plans of 15 municipalities, while mentoring an additional 10 municipalities in the completion of their plans. Informal Settlement Upgrading Given the scale of the informal settlement problem in South Africa, there is a clear need for informal settlements to be incorporated into sustainable human settlement planning and implementation. Due to a lack of clear and effective policies, limited action is being taken and residents of informal settlements thus remain largely excluded from developmental benefits of the new South African democracy, significantly undermining efforts at transformation, redress of the legacy of apartheid, and nation building. With ISLGS support, PPT has made a number of significant contributions to the mainstreaming of improved approaches to informal settlement upgrading on both the provincial and national levels. As part of the development of a Strategy for the Second Economy commissioned by the Office of the Presidency, PPT prepared a comprehensive position paper on informal settlement and informal settlement upgrading. The position paper demonstrated that current housing delivery targets could not be achieved using conventional approaches given the combined constraints of budget, land, capacity and other factors. It recommended a more broad based and incremental approach, including the provision of emergency relief, and further recommended the rapid assessment and grading of all informal settlements to determine the appropriate developmental response. Finally, it argued the need for one pot of funding to address the issue of informal settlements. The paper has had significant and diverse impacts including the evolution of a strong consensus among key experts and policy advisors on the principles contained in the paper (e.g., those of incremental upgrading and the need for one pot of funding). It has played a key role in the development of the KZN Sustainable Human Settlement Strategy (prepared by PPT) and the ethekwini Metro has incorporated many of its principles, especially that of incremental upgrading, in its approach to informal settlements. REVENUE ENHANCEMENT As mentioned previously, USAID support to municipal revenue enhancement has largely been focused through a large scale municipal capacity building program addressing general administrative issues. The exception has been technical assistance and mentoring provided by ISLGS related to revenue enhancement from the reduction of Non Revenue Water in municipal water provision. A central thrust of ensuring the sustainability of municipal water services provision is the reduction of Non Revenue Water, which is essentially the difference between the amount of raw water a municipality buys and the amount of treated water for which it receives revenue. A significant proportion of this difference is due to what is known as apparent and unbilled losses originating from customer meter inaccuracies, billing system failures, and unauthorized consumption which cost a municipality in terms of lost revenue and distort data on consumption patterns. Real ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 12

17 losses typically include physical losses of water from the distribution system, including leakage and represent a drain on municipal resources which could otherwise be used to improve or extend water services. To address the issues of Non Revenue Water, ISLGS looked to another key partnership with the Watergy program of The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), a US non-profit coalition of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders collaborating to promote efficient and clean energy use that benefits consumers, the economy, and the environment. As a program, Watergy works with local governments to provide strategic advice and technical assistance focused on saving energy, water, and money. ISLGS supported Watergy program interventions in 15 municipalities throughout the country, of which 10 included specific interventions focused on revenue enhancement. A few notable examples are highlighted below. The ISLGS Watergy team worked with officials from Johannesburg Water (JW) to provide technical assistance to the implementation of Operation Gcin-Amanzi focusing on reducing Non Revenue Water in Soweto. The ISLGS team identified significant revenue losses resulting from the non-billing of commercial and institutional customers and initiated a project to immediately introduce metering for these customers. Over 300 properties were assessed and 243 were added to Johannesburg Water s billing system resulting in an estimated 16% reduction in Non Revenue Water from this initiative. In the City of Tshwane, ISLGS assisted the planning and implementation of an amnesty program whereby consumers with illegal connections could apply for amnesty and receive a legal connection. In just a three month period, a total of 354 customers responded to the amnesty offer, and the municipality proceeded to legalize their water connections, and upload data onto the debtor system of the municipality. ISLGS undertook an assessment of 35 schools in previously disadvantaged areas throughout the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality as the first step in the preparation of a schools leak repair project. The assessment confirmed that plumbing infrastructure was in a very poor state in all 35 school properties. In some schools the disrepair was so extensive that ablution blocks were kept locked and students had no access to sanitation during school hours. The cost estimate to repair all plumbing infrastructure at the assessed schools was approximately R2 million. At the same time, the report estimated R1.3 million per year in lost revenue for non-billing of water usage at the schools assessed and R8.9 million per year in lost revenue for all schools in Nelson Mandela Metro. ISLGS FINAL REPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION 13

18 SECTION 1II CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES DELIVERY AND INNOVATION In line with the priorities of the South African Government during the program period, the focus of the ISLGS program in terms of municipal infrastructure has been on the joint effort with dplg to achieve South Africa s Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation through strategic deployment of national engineering and planning support teams. Additional activities supporting housing delivery and rural sanitation, several of which were introduced in the previous section, contributed both to delivery of on-the-ground services for the poor, and to the development of innovative models for sustainable service delivery. While the results of these initiatives has been impressive in terms services provided and resources leveraged, the sustainability of these results will depend in the near term on innovative and diversified financing and technical assistance strategies and mechanisms, while government continues to address the severe capacity constraints in local and provincial government. This section will thus also describe the key legacy mechanisms promoted by the project. ERADICATING THE BUCKET SANITATION SYSTEM IN SOUTH AFRICA A national government strategy to eradicate the use of bucket sanitation in formal areas in South Africa was announced by President Mbeki in 2005, with a targeted completion date of December With the burden of implementation squarely on municipalities, many of which were facing severe capacity constraints, it became clear by June 2007 that some 56 municipalities were unlikely to eliminate backlogs by the target date without concentrated, hands-on assistance. In support of initiatives already undertaken by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), and with USAID funding and implementation support provided through the ISLGS program, dplg launched a technical assistance program in October 2007 to unblock and accelerate service delivery in the worst-affected municipalities. A National Infrastructure Delivery Team, consisting of dplg and ISGLS staff along with a team of regionally based engineers and technical specialists provided through a major subcontract with Africon Engineering Services (Africon), was mobilized and deployed in the 56 priority municipalities spread throughout 5 provinces. Following a comprehensive assessment phase to identify challenges and obstacles, the ISGLS Team proceeded to develop and implement a Project Execution Plan (PEP), which detailed the specific actions and resources necessary to unblock projects for each of the targeted municipalities. The final and critical phase was to ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 14

19 undertake and document a post-implementation learning process that included feedback workshops with partner municipalities and presentations to national department staff to ensure the valuable lessons learned from the exercise would be available to guide future programs. The effort was successful beyond all expectations and, through careful management of resources, ISLGS was able to extend the technical assistance phase through September 2008 in an effort to get as close as possible to the goal of total eradication of the bucket sanitation system in formal areas. Eradicating buckets also meant the installation of water infrastructure that brought new water service to additional households, and in some cases entire communities, beyond those involved in bucket eradication. In all, over 120,000 bucket systems were eradicated bringing improved water and sanitation to over 450,000 people. Close to $150 million worth of MIG projects were unblocked and/or accelerated. RESOLVING WATER QUALITY ISSUES IN THE COMMUNITY OF ZOAR During November 2007, the local clinic in the town of Zoar, situated in Kannaland Municipality in the Western Cape, raised the alarm that over 960 residents were being treated for water-related illnesses. Municipal officials needed to intervene urgently but lacked experience and skills to address the situation. dplg asked the ISLGS bucket eradication intervention team, who were onsite at the time, to independently investigate the situation and report on actions necessary to resolve the problem. The intervention team immediately responded by conducting an investigation into the microbial and chemical quality of the area s water supply. This investigation entailed water sampling at various locations, investigating the chlorination process and the operation of the water supply system. Analysis of the water samples indicated the presence of coliform bacteria as well as evidence of unacceptably low levels of chlorination at various points in the system. Recommendations to resolve the problems were made and the new immediately implemented by the municipality with guidance from intervention team. Actions taken included flushing the water supply system to remove contamination, rectifying the chlorine dosing procedures, and setting up of an effective monitoring regime. The resulting intervention was successful, and no subsequent cases of water-borne illnesses have been reported since. ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 15

20 COMPREHENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING Two early and powerful observations that emerged from the bucket eradication program experience were that the planning process must start earlier and it must be more comprehensive. Both of these elements are imperative to ensure that the considerable investments being made by government are sustainable and contribute to economic growth. The dplg put these lessons to immediate effect by convening an inter-departmental initiative which includes the Department of Water Affairs, National Treasury, Department of Housing, and Development Bank of Southern Africa, to develop and roll-out Comprehensive Infrastructure Planning (CIP) at the municipal level across all sectors. The ISLGS team assisted with the early conceptualization of the approach and with coordination at the technical level. The South African Government has demonstrated its commitment to the new approach giving it a legislative force as mandated in the annual Division of Revenue Act (DORA) - the principal mechanism for distribution of nationally-collected revenues to local government. While assisting the national rollout of CIP was beyond the scope of the ISLGS program, the ISLGS team incorporated the CIP concept and sustainability criteria into all subsequent municipal water and sanitation technical assistance activities. ADDRESSING BACKLOGS IN DRINKING WATER PROVISION Following on the success of the bucket eradication program, USAID agreed to a further request by dplg in 2008 to extend the ISLGS technical assistance support program to 16 Water Service Authorities (WSAs) with highest backlogs, with the objective of meeting national drinking water targets. USAID, dplg, and ISLGS all agreed that the joint program to address water supply backlogs would follow the same two phase implementation methodology that was so successful in the bucket eradication effort. Comprehensive assessments were first completed in 49 WSAs representing the vast majority of the backlogs. PEPs were then approved and implemented in 16 WSAs selected by dplg as the areas where the joint program would have the highest impact in the short project timeframe available. While the main challenge of the bucket eradication effort was unblocking and accelerating projects already identified, the assessments in the water backlog program revealed an almost total lack of planning and design activities due to severe capacity constraints. When the ISLGS field teams were deployed in October 2008, it also quickly became apparent that there was a dire need for formal water and sewer plant operations and maintenance training, in addition to the technical mentoring provided as part of the technical assistance interactions, across most of the partner WSAs. This situation prompted the focus of the water backlog effort to shift to more planning and project packaging assistance, as well as extensive operations and maintenance training, while still unblocking and accelerating as many projects as possible. In addition, two of the 16 municipalities were identified by dplg as requiring special interventions with higher levels of technical assistance due to the near total collapse of water services in these areas. The achievement of better than expected results continued under the water backlog program with the ISLGS team able to unblock 28 ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 16

21 water services projects leveraging $30 million in MIG funds, with another 35 projects representing capital investments of over $50 million, packaged and pending approval. More than 2 million people, mostly from previously disadvantaged communities, benefitted from improved water services from the program and 160 municipal technical staff and plant operators were mentored and trained in operations and maintenance procedures. In summary, the ISLGS partnership with dplg for clean water and sanitation has produced an impressive legacy in a relatively short time. Beyond the unblocking of over 200 projects and $150 million of water services infrastructure funding, the program enhanced the capacity of over 200 technical staff and plant operators in 73 municipalities in 5 provinces through formal training and mentoring in project planning, implementation management, and operations and maintenance of municipal infrastructure. Planning and operations manuals and guidelines were also developed and provided to all partner municipalities. Significantly, the program demonstrated and documented a model for technical assistance through a National Infrastructure Delivery Team based regionally and coordinated nationally. A similar model for technical and project management support to lower capacity municipalities through regional technical support units has been proposed in a recent draft MIG policy revision document. This model also demonstrated to partner municipalities the value of targeted, PEP-driven technical assistance, as evidenced by the number that continued the assistance with their own funds after the completion of USAID support. NEW WATER SERVICES THROUGH HOUSING DELIVERY South Africa s strategy to achieve its Millennium Development Goals relies on housing delivery, including both new housing and informal settlement upgrading, as the driver for the provision of new water services beyond existing formal areas. Therefore, another critical element of the ISLGS program to increase sustainable water services involved the provision of technical support for housing and infrastructure delivery in partnership with PPT. In this effort, PPT assisted eight municipalities to complete the technical work (e.g. geotechnical studies, environmental impact assessment, engineering estimates, site design, costing etc.) required to finalize and submit housing subsidy applications to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Housing for ten housing projects, each project providing between 500 and 2000 houses. The assistance resulted in the approval of nearly $45 million in subsidy scheme funding for the construction of a total of 6,000 new houses in these ten projects. In turn, these projects were able to attract an additional $4 million in funding for the provision of ventilated improved pit latrines for 5,450 households. Under the partnership with PPT, ISLGS also facilitated the implementation of a training scholarship program on homebuilding run by the National Homebuilder s Registration Council for 100 unemployed youth as a means of promoting sustainable human settlements ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 17

22 through local economic development. The intention of the program is to provide building skills which can lead to employment, including selfemployment. As with all ISLGS activities, the partnership with PPT for the provision of technical assistance to housing and infrastructure delivery was effective in producing tangible results in terms of service delivery while contributing significantly to sustainability through the mainstreaming of more effective project preparation and project packaging methodology and strengthening of related capacity and skills within the housing and related sectors. In another initiative focused on increasing municipal service delivery by accelerating housing delivery, ISLGS provided direct technical assistance to the Eastern Cape s Department of Housing in the formulation and implementation of the Eastern Cape Housing Strategy. The strategy included the national and provincial housing sector context (including blockages), key provincial challenges and constraints, key initiatives and, perhaps most importantly, action plans. By introducing a new procurement strategy and helping to resolve systemic blockages within the delivery system, the strategy resulted in significant unblocking of housing projects in the Eastern Cape, which in turn leveraged provision of water, sanitation, and other services. This initiative demonstrates how targeted technical assistance focused at a program level can result in significant unblocking at the project level. ENSURING SUSTAINABLE MUNICIPAL WATER PROVISION The Amaoti Community Caretaker project is another example of ISLGS support to innovation in the water service delivery. The project was conceived and implemented by the ISLGS Watergy team under the partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy introduced in the previous section. The project attempted to deal with the problem of improving service levels and encouraging community ownership of water resources and infrastructure in the many informal settlements in South Africa s metropolitan areas. The concept demonstrated in Amoati in cooperation with the ethekwini municipality, centers on the appointment and implementation of a community caretaker structure to manage water supply at a community level, educate and inform customers around water issues and report leaks and bursts to the municipal call centers, to be implemented in tandem with the installation of groundtanks, Electronic Bailiff Units (EBU s) and a formalized water network. The project successfully demonstrated and documented the viability of the community caretaker model for sustainable and effective management of community water systems in informal settlements while ensuring that more than 1300 households received improved access to water services. FINANCING WATER CONSERVATION AND WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT The experience with promoting water conservation and water demand management (WCWDM) in a variety of municipalities across the country through the ISLGS Watergy program yielded the understanding that, while the potential cost, water and energy savings are often well understood, difficulties in securing funding for WCWDM projects has limited the rollout of this critical activity. Municipal councils are often reluctant to commit scarce capital resources to what they consider to be maintenance activities, and they are equally reluctant to borrow funds for these activities. Normal operational funding is also insufficient to address the needs at scale as well. It became clear that the sustainability of ISLGS WCWDM activities rested on addressing this financing issue and in response ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 18

23 ISLGS conducted an analysis of the problem and potential solutions resulting in the preparation of a discussion paper. The paper advocated an off balance sheet, service agreement approach with a dedicated revolving fund from which both technical assistance and capital costs could be funded, allowing Water Service Authorities to embark on WCWDM programs without having to follow the normal and time consuming procurement steps of investigating, budgeting and letting out to tender such a program. It was also determined to be critical that the management of the fund and the technical assistance support be done by a statutory institution that could provide outsourced services to municipalities without lengthy and costly procurement processes. After thorough consideration of the available options ranging from a totally new entity to existing private sector entities, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) emerged as the preferred choice. The ISLGS team then engaged DBSA, in partnership with The Department of Water Affairs, over a two-year period to develop a specialized WCWDM finance and technical assistance facility to be managed by DBSA. This effort resulted in DBSA agreeing to go forward with the facility, for which a Memorandum of Understanding with Water Affairs has been drafted for signature. When implemented in 2010, the facility will make available over R50 million in technical assistance funding and mobilize between R500 million and R2 billion in private sector financing for municipal WCWDM interventions. MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PLEDGING In close collaboration with the dplg Municipal Services Partnerships unit, ISLGS analyzed the causes behind the persistent inability of smaller and weaker municipalities to access private sector funding for infrastructure development. Two major factors identified were the lack of capacity at municipal level to plan, package, and manage projects, and the lack of significant revenues sources other than national grant transfers. Seeing that the capacity issue was being addressed in a variety of programs, we jointly decided to address the second issue. ISLGS commissioned research into the opportunities and risks associated with changing existing MIG policy to allow municipalities to pledge future MIG allocations as collateral for current private sector lending. This would improve the creditworthiness of these municipalities to borrow for infrastructure development. A discussion document was produced and presented to representatives of the various divisions at dplg, including the MIG Policy unit. Based on this input, the concept has now been incorporated as a financing option for medium and higher capacity municipalities in the current draft MIG Policy Revision document as a strategy to free up government grant funding to assist weaker municipalities. If implemented, this policy innovation could greatly expand the pool of funding to address both infrastructure backlogs and accelerated growth. ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES 19

24 SECTION 1V MODERN ENERGY SERVICES GROWTH WITH EFFICIENCY Energy provides a necessary foundation to alleviate poverty, support education and health care, provide safe drinking water, reverse the loss of environmental resources, and support the availability of new technologies. Access to affordable, reliable, clean, and efficient energy, in addition to water services, is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty and achieving sustainable development. PROVIDING ACCESS TO MODERN ENERGY SERVICES As discussed in the previous section, housing delivery drives the provision of associated municipal infrastructure and services to previously unserved households. The ISLGS partnership with PPT for the provision of technical support for housing and infrastructure assisted eight municipalities to complete the technical work for subsidy approvals for 6,000 new houses in ten housing projects. During the ISGLS implementation period, support to the provision of housing enabled four of these projects to receive further investments in electrification from ESKOM, the national electricity utility, bringing modern energy services to 4,000 new households representing over 15,000 people. Similarly, the unblocking of housing delivery in the Eastern Cape resulting from ISLGS direct technical assistance to the Eastern Cape s Department of Housing in the formulation and implementation of the Eastern Cape Housing Strategy leveraged new energy services for 13,000 households or more than 50,000 people. BUILDING CAPACITY FOR A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE To make sustainable energy access a reality in South Africa, it is necessary to go beyond the goal of connecting as many new households to the national grid. Highlighted below are some of the activities initiated and supported by ISLGS to build awareness, understanding, and capacity, particularly in the municipal sector, for sustainable energy strategies and options. Energy and Climate Change Road Show In 2007, ISLGS conducted a series of municipal awareness raising workshops introducing a range of topics including the Watergy program, energy policy, environment, and global climate change in the five major centers of ethekwini (KwaZulu Natal), Cape Town (Western Cape), Mangaung (Free State), Gauteng, and Buffalo City (Eastern Cape). The purpose ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 20

25 was to exchange and share knowledge on energy management and efficiency, water use efficiency, global climate change, as well as energy policy and regulatory practices. Key discussions were held on how to meet municipal service delivery challenges and reduce operational costs with measures that really work. Participants investigated opportunities to reduce environmental risks and health impacts with improved management of municipal service delivery, as well as ways that a municipality can benefit from quantifying and monetizing greenhouse gas emissions reductions, including landfill-gas to energy sales. The workshops also provided ISLGS with an excellent opportunity to engage with a variety of municipal stakeholders to gain further insights into maximizing ISLGS impact in the sector. SA Cities Network Renewable Energy Summit ISLGS support played a key role in the successful training of over 200 delegates in energy policy during the Cities Renewable Energy Summit, held in May 2008 in Stellenbosch. The event was convened by the South African Cities Network and hosted in association with USAID, the Royal Danish Embassy, and ABSA. Key energy sector partners included the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), SA National Energy Research Institute (SANERI), Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), and Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA). The purpose of the summit was to enable local government decision makers to become more active in promoting the shift to a renewable energy future. Sessions covered renewable energy technologies including solar, wind, biomass, hydro, wave, and landfill gas energy. Prior to the main plenary sessions, a Mayor's summit was also held which attracted 30 South African and international mayors to focus on renewable energy and sustainable energy solutions. The summit produced clear agreement on the importance of increased use of renewable energy in order to ensure a sustainable and economically robust future for South Africa. The summit also acknowledged the importance of energy efficiency and demand side initiatives, noting that promoting renewable energy alone would not be sufficient to solve the challenges currently facing the energy sector. There was also broad agreement that local authorities and cities play a key role as regulators, purchasers, planners and distributors of energy, and within these roles is considerable scope for promoting renewable energy. Delegates also expressed the strong view that cities have a significant leadership role to play as facilitators of renewable energy: sending out signals, creating confidence and leading technology change. In sum, the Cities Renewable Energy Summit succeeded in highlighting the importance of renewable energy and the key role that municipalities can play in ensuring a sustainable energy future in South Africa. Municipal Solar Water Heating Support Based on a relationship formed at the SACN Renewable Energy Summit, ISLGS provided critical technical support to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) facilitating the implementation of a landmark renewable energy demonstration project. The ISLGS support leveraged the investment by NMBM of over $500,000 for the installation of 1,263 low pressure solar water heating systems benefiting over 4,500 low income residents of the Zanemvula Housing Project in Port Elizabeth. This project marked the first mass rollout of solar water heating in the Metro, and is seen as the complement to the program for the rollout of 60,000 high pressure solar water heating ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 21

26 systems for middle and upper income households. The aim of the project was to improve the quality of life of residents by providing a sustainable source of hot water to households without placing any added burden on electricity demand for the city. The NMBM s focus on low income communities was specifically targeted to have a positive impact on eradicating poverty and improve social development in several ways. First, the installation of solar water heaters in low cost housing ensures that future housing developments are not stalled by a lack of access to electrification. Second, the energy savings translates into financial savings for the household as well as environmental benefits in terms of reduced carbon emissions. Finally, decreased dependence on the use of paraffin or open fires for water heating corresponds with a decrease in associated respiratory disease as well as lowered fire risk and fewer burn wounds. In light of these benefits, a key feature of the project made possible by ISLGS support was to fully assess the social impact of the use of renewable energy for lower income residential water heating. ISLGS assisted the NMBM, in cooperation with local education institutions, to survey each of the 1263 beneficiary households enabling the municipality to establish baseline data and gauge the various social impacts of the project to inform both municipal and national housing and energy policy going forward. The baseline survey also contributed temporary employment and skills development for 23 individuals of the Zanemvula community. Technical Support and Workshops for Energy Efficient Housing This activity implemented under the ISLGS-PPT partnership sought to identify and demonstrate alternative energy products that are suitable for use in low-income households utilizing learning obtained from prior USAID funded PPT pilot projects. The demonstration project was designed to include both a deep rural area off the main national electricity grid as well as a suburban area with formal electricity supply to test the relevance of different alternative energy products in these contexts. The design also included a refined ISLGS-PPT implementation model in which energy products would be made available to approximately 1200 low income households on the basis of an up front cash contribution from households for a portion of the product price. Previous USAID-funded projects had exposed the difficulties of administering micro loans for energy products in rural areas. Municipal staff where trained to manage the rollout and maintenance of alternative energy supply and workshops created awareness among residents of the various alternative energy options and their benefits and disadvantages. The activity also included identifying and leveraging sources of funding for the capital costs for the implementation of expanded pilot projects at the two identified sites for the rollout of a range of alternative energy products. When an initial funding application to the Department of Energy stalled, ISLGS was able to facilitate a second, successful application to the South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI). WATERGY: SUPPORTING MUNICIPAL WATER AND ENERGY SAVINGS As described earlier, the term "Watergy" is used by ISGLS partner, the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) to describe the ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 22

27 strong link between water and energy in the water supply value chain. The abstraction of water, its treatment and distribution, as well as wastewater collection and treatment are enormously energy intensive operations. As a consequence, saving water by reducing water losses and wastage has a significant impact in reducing energy consumption. These water and energy savings also result in financial savings and improved water resource availability to extend service to unserved populations. A total of 15 mostly larger and District municipalities benefitted from ISLGS interventions via the Watergy partnership, as more opportunities exist in these municipalities to create significant efficiencies in water networks. Location, willingness to partner with ISGLS, and capacity to implement efficiency intervention measures were also taken into account in selecting municipal partners. The Watergy Team worked to jointly develop intervention programs that met the specific needs of each partner municipality typically involving one or more of the following: Private Property Leak Repairs This intervention which involves the repair of plumbing fixtures on private properties in previously disadvantaged areas was aimed at curbing on-property water wastage and thus helping reduce excessive water bills for the beneficiary residents. Assistance activities included preparing project plans, analyzing the water supply history, preparation of tender documents and procurement management for the appointment of plumbing assessors, plumbing materials suppliers, and plumbing contractors, and providing formal and mentoring training to learner plumbers. Network Pressure Management This intervention involves installation of pressure reducing valves on main supply lines where high wastage has been identified, in order to slow the overall rate at which water leaks from the network. Pressure management has been identified internationally as a cost effective way of reducing Non Revenue Water and creating a more efficient supply regime. Assistance activities for this intervention included establishing water supply baselines for project areas, preparing project plans, preparation of tender documents and procurement management for the appointment of service providers, appointment of independent technical auditors, and monitoring and verification of water savings. Water Efficiency Planning The Watergy team worked with a number of municipalities to develop strategic implementation ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 23

28 plans for their water conservation and water demand management programs. These plans were intended to provide realistic and pragmatic approaches to the implementation of various efficiency intervention measures within the constrained municipal service delivery environment. The plans focused on identifying obstacles to implementing water efficiency, the improved use of existing resources and capacity, and the leveraging of additional funding to ensure continued implementation beyond ISLGS assistance. Schools Leak Repair Projects These projects involved the repair of ablution facilities on school properties. Ablution facilities at the schools in these communities were in such a poor state that learners were often denied access to the facilities, and as a consequence, schools were frequently closed early. The ISLGS Watergy team worked towards the elimination of water wastage on school properties by repairing plumbing infrastructure and leaks, monitoring water supply, training school caretakers in plumbing repairs, and educating learners and teachers in water conservation and behavioral change. The results of these projects have been outstanding with water wastage almost totally eliminated at the beneficiary schools and an embracing of the objectives of the program by school principals, staff, teachers, educators and parents. Improvements to Bulk Infrastructure These interventions involved repair and rehabilitation of bulk water supply lines, and in one municipality, the repair and rehabilitation of a leaking reservoir. Metering of Domestic and Bulk Customers and the Installation of Flow Management Devices This intervention involved the metering of domestic and other customers and the installation of flow management devices where necessary. Main activities included preparing project plans, liaising with community structures, preparing draft municipal metering policies, procurement management assistance for water meter suppliers, and monitoring and verification of meter performance and savings achieved. Through these and other interventions, the ISLGS Watergy program assisted the 15 partner municipalities to save over 12 million kilowatt hours of electricity and put in place sustainable plans and procedures for water use efficiency. The energy savings were generated by eliminating over 12 million kiloliters of water wastage from the water provision systems of these municipalities. In addition, the technical assistance provided under these initiatives leveraged over $7.3 million in municipal water infrastructure and refurbishment investments. ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 24

29 ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 25

30 SUPPORT TO NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY With the rapid escalation of the electricity crisis in South Africa in early 2008, the ISLGS program partnership with the National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA), initially focused on joint support for the retrofit of municipal traffic lights with low wattage LED bulbs, suddenly expanded to include national implementation of a comprehensive and coordinated energy efficiency program. This partnership has developed into one of the most productive ISGLS programs and has grown to include the full range of energy efficient public lighting projects, solar water heating, smart metering, as well as a number of other municipal, national, and private sector energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. NEEA is a public benefit corporation created in 2006 with the overarching goal of using innovation and technology to solve some of South Africa s most difficult energy and environmental problems in ways that improve the economy. Included in this mandate is the development of key strategies to address the growing demand for energy, including gas, electricity, liquid petroleum, and to stimulate areas neglected in terms of energy efficiency in the past, such as the transport sector. However, lack of clarity in government as to the source and level of budgetary support for operations and project funding left NEEA with insufficient capacity to fulfill this important mandate. ISLGS technical assistance was able to help fill this operational and program management capacity gap to kick start NEEA s national energy efficiency program. In total, ISLGS support to NEEA, along with its sister agency, the SA National Energy Research Institute (SANERI), and by extension, the inter-departmental National Energy Response Team (NERT), achieved energy savings many times higher than expected, resulting in over 130 million kilowatt hours of electricity savings and leveraging over $155 million for energy efficiency investments. Highlights of the ISLGS- NEEA partnership are described below. Traffic Signal Retrofit Program ISLGS and NEEA jointly developed an integrated model for the financing and implementation of a sustainable traffic signal retrofit program. This program is implementing mass replacement of the conventional incandescent 85 watts signal lamps with highly efficient and longer lasting light emitting diode (LED) lamps of 10 watts. Key intersections nationwide have also been retrofitted with uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and/or solar photovoltaic cell units to provide sustainable traffic signals through times of power interruption. The benefits of the program include both the direct energy savings of 75w per lamp, as well as continuity of signal operation preventing traffic congestion and resulting in a significant reduction in green house gas emissions. The program has been successful in leveraging sponsorship from the corporate sector, which have donated and pledged in excess of $12.5 million to cover major intersections in the metro areas of Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town. Public Lighting Program Utilizing a shared savings financing model developed through this initiative, ISLGS assisted NEEA to package a number of street light retrofit projects replacing conventional watt street light bulbs with 48 watt LED technology. An initial twelve municipalities including Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Cape Town are participating in the program. When the $100 million program is fully implemented, approximately 650,000 street lights will be replaced, with energy savings estimated at a staggering 88 megawatts. Through the support given by the ISLGS, NEEA has been able to assist the National Department of Public Works (DPW) to develop a project plan to retrofit all government buildings managed by DPW with energy efficiency technology. The initial phase involves 30 major government installations in Pretoria to be ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 26

31 creation of 10 million person days of work opportunities in energy efficiency projects over the next 5 years. followed by roll-out to more facilities in the provinces over the next few years. ISLGS also assisted the development of a demonstration project for a new technology that effectively reduces the power consumption of high mast lights, preferred for residential street lighting in many low income communities in South Africa. The project involves retrofitting of 840 masts in the Tshwane Metro area to be funded utilizing a shared savings model. ISLGS assistance was instrumental in the decision by National Treasury (NT) to make over $45 million available to the 19 South African host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to prepare and implement public lighting projects. Working for Energy Initiative Policy and institutional frameworks for a major new program entitled Working for Energy were developed with ISLGS assistance. The program is patterned after the successful Working for Water program and is designed to effectively leverage job creation while supporting the national energy efficiency strategy. Biomass stock piles generated from alien vegetation clearing under the Working for Water program is set to become a fuel source for biomass generators, together with mini-scale hydroelectric plants that will provide both on and off grid energy solutions in rural environments. Program plans call for over $750 million in investment and the SANParks SWH 2010 Project NEEA, with ISLGS assistance, is supporting the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to implement a comprehensive range of support measures to ensure that all South African National Parks (SANParks) facilities are appealing to both local and international travelers. Energy efficiency technology is a major component of this effort and NEEA is providing technical and project management assistance, as well as facilitating top-up funding for specific technology improvements that will ensure a sustainable and energy-efficient compliant installation of solar water heaters, compact fluorescent lighting, and other appropriate technologies in accommodation units across the SANParks portfolio. Additional jobs will be created through the training of local energy advisors and the use of emerging black businesses for equipment installations in areas close to the relevant reserves. Promotion of the Shared Savings Financing Model Critical to the sustainability of the ISLGS assistance in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and cutting across all the projects discussed above has been the development and mainstreaming of a practical and implementable shared saving financing model. The shared savings concept is based on private sector financing of energy efficiency measures to be repaid by capturing a portion of the savings stream created. This model is based on international best practice and is set to revolutionize financing in the energy efficiency sector in South Africa by opening up commercial markets, promoting the development of public private partnerships, and dealing with long standing problems of private sector risk appetite in the sector. A general policy framework for the approach, as well as practical model contracts consistent with South African laws and regulations, were developed with ISLGS assistance and a number of agreements using this template have been executed. ISLGS FINAL REPORT MODERN ENERGY SERVICES 27

32 SECTION V CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT This component of the ISLGS program focused on building awareness of the role a clean human environment plays in sustainable economic growth and providing the tools and mechanisms for effective partnerships to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. These themes truly underlie the entire ISLGS program and have therefore run through many of the activities highlighted in earlier sections such as renewable energy capacity building, municipal energy efficiency, and solar wastewater treatment technology. International experience shows that the ability of municipalities to provide basic services in a sustainable manner is critically dependent on leveraging alternative funding sources and increasing access to management skills. In this section, clean human environment issues are highlighted in the context of the many ISLGS activities promoting private sector partnerships particularly in the areas of solid waste and air quality management. PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS FOR IMPROVED WASTE MANAGEMENT A major component of the ISLGS environment and climate change program from the outset has been promoting alternative service delivery options, particularly in solid waste where the potential for private sector involvement is higher than in the delivery of other basic services. Particular focus has been on alternative waste treatment technologies with potential to significantly reduce the volume of waste going into landfills, as well as on innovative partnerships for waste minimization and collection. The ISLGS team, working in conjunction with the dplg MSP Unit, provided direct technical assistance to the development of municipal solid waste partnerships with the private sector in a number of municipalities across the country and these are described briefly below. ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 28

33 Msunduzi Landfill Gas Prior to the ISLGS project, the municipality of Msunduzi in KwaZulu Natal had received funding from DBSA to investigate the feasibility of installing a gas-toenergy plant located at the municipal landfill. Based on positive findings, the municipality subsequently tendered the project and a preferred bidder, Ener-G Systems, was selected based on a proposal of zero cost and zero risk to the municipality. With the advent of the ISLGS program, National Treasury asked the ISLGS team to assist the municipality with contract negotiations and implementation of the project. The team reviewed the draft contract submitted to the municipality by Ener-G Systems and assisted the municipality through several rounds of contract negotiations. The team also supported the municipality in negotiations with the Central Energy Fund for the provision of equity financing and technical assistance in obtaining carbon credits and marketing the green energy from the project, a key financial issue. An agreement between the municipality and Ener- G Systems governing the design, supply installation, commissioning, construction, operation and maintenance of a Landfill Gas utilization and destruction facility was signed in July 2007 and implementation is underway. City of Johannesburg Alternative Waste Treatment Due to high economic growth, the City of Johannesburg is generating increased volumes of waste. This growth in the volume of waste is accelerating the depletion of space in the city s four existing landfills. Consequently, the City requested ISLGS technical assistance to explore alternative waste treatment technologies that have the potential to significantly reduce the volume of waste going into its landfills. ISLGS assisted the City of Johannesburg to prepare two key procurement documents for addressing this goal. The first was a request for proposal for transaction advisors to assist the City to prepare a PPP project, including feasibility studies and statutory procurement documentation. The second document was a request for expression of interest from prospective private waste operators, who have experience and knowledge of implementing waste treatment technologies, in order to gauge the various technologies in the market and their price ranges. The ISLGS team continued to work closely with the City of Johannesburg and National Treasury to finalize a PPP agreement with a private sector entity for landfill gas collection and alternative power generation from all Johannesburg landfill sites. The agreement is expected to serve as a template for similar service agreements with the private sector to capture landfill gas, and for municipalities to sell the power produced. Ukhahlamba MSP Options Responding to a request from dplg, ISLGS provided support the Ukhahlamba District Municipality in the Eastern Cape to prepare an MSP for waste management services to improve service delivery through private sector participation in the operation of landfill sites, waste minimization, and SMME/CBO waste collection. The ISLGS assistance was crucial in helping Ukhalhlamba, and other rural municipalities, evaluate their waste management options realistically. Rural waste collection using small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), while high on the national agenda, is generally not economically viable in most cases, as poor rural households in most countries around the world produce little or no waste, and items that have any value are already recycled. Further, for municipalities that are far away from recyclable markets, traditional recycling is not feasible due to long distances which make transport costs excessive and would reduce potential greenhouse gas mitigation opportunities. These municipalities, as was the case in Ukhahlamba, were assisted to explore and create local options for waste minimization. Overberg Solid Waste PPPs At the request of dplg, ISLGS assisted the Municipal Manager and waste management staff of Overberg Local Municipality in the ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 29

34 Western Cape to review several potential PPP projects. The municipality had already implemented a wet bag/dry bag system in several areas of the municipality and has an informal agreement with a local recycling company to process the recyclables. The system was constrained by several limited collection and processing facilities. ISLGS helped the municipality to identify several potential viable PPP options for the collection and processing of the dry bag recyclables. Following a site visit to the municipal landfill, technical guidance was provided for improved landfill operation and for proceeding with a PPP for landfill operations. Cape Town Landfill Gas The Central Energy Fund (CEF), a state owned enterprise, submitted a proposal to implement a landfill gas collection and utilization project with the private company, Ener-G, as their preferred technical partner. As a public entity, CEF s bid was not subject to open competition and the ISLGS LBG team assisted the municipality to review the proposal and the non-competitive process to ensure the municipality obtained the best value for money. Cape Town Transfer Stations The City of Cape Town is in the process of closing its in-town landfills and replacing them with transfer stations to access their current suburban landfill and future regional landfill. ISLGS assistance involved advising the municipality in selecting appropriate equipment and integrating waste recycling into a proposed new large scale transfer facility, and on assessing procurement options for accessing private sector management and operation of the facility. Rustenburg Solid Waste At the request of National Treasury, ISLGS assisted the Rustenburg Local Municipality to develop technical and procurement options and ensure overall implementation of waste minimization policies and other statutory obligations necessary for the implementation of a number of solid waste projects including: a new regional landfill, transfer stations, a CBD cleansing program, and extension of refuse collection services to outlying areas. The ISLGS team also assisted the municipality to review unsolicited alternative technology proposals. BUILDING CAPACITY IN ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE Capacity building has been central to ISLGS efforts to promote sustainable development and a clean human environment. Major training initiatives implemented by ISGLS focused on: Building the project management capacity of municipal partners to prepare and own municipal service partnerships, particularly in the solid waste sector, that benefit the poor and reduce GHG emissions; Enhancing the awareness of government officials, community leaders, and service providers of energy and climate change legislation, energy management systems, energy technology; Building awareness of sustainable energy development, including alternative and clean energy, energy efficient shelter practices, and global climate change for local governments, private sector, and civil society; Providing technical assistance and training in sustainable environmental management; and, Initiating and developing partnerships for knowledge management and sharing, providing linkages to existing networks and global climate change activities. A selection of these initiatives is highlighted below. Promoting Alternative Service Delivery Capacity While supporting a number of municipalities with direct technical assistance around specific alternative service delivery challenges as described above, ISLGS also worked at the national level to support and complement ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 30

35 on-going activities in the National Treasury PPP Unit and dplg s MSP Unit, development finance institutions, other donors, and the South African financial services sector, to promote private sector financing, alternative service delivery and municipal service partnerships for service delivery infrastructure. This was accomplished through awareness raising, capacity building, support for the development of laws, policies, and regulations, as well as support for the establishment of innovative public-private financing schemes. MSP/PPP Guidelines A significant constraint to service delivery identified in the ISLGS assessment phase was that many government policies are not well aligned and often contradictory. Previously, USAID had provided considerable technical assistance and financial support to the establishment and operation of the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit (MIIU) that had a timed mandate to encourage and optimize private sector investment in local government services. When the MIIU program ended, its functions were divided up between the National Treasury PPP Unit and the dplg MSP Unit resulting in un-aligned policies on public private partnerships that became a critical blockage. Resolving this misalignment to enable the private sector to participate in municipal service delivery was identified by the South African Government as a priority area for ISLGS assistance. The ISLGS team therefore worked with dplg on the realignment of the MSP guidelines, and with National Treasury to streamline the PPP/MSP regulations and guidelines. With this assistance, revised and aligned PPP/MSP guidelines and a revised MSP manual were jointly developed and rolled-out by National Treasury and dplg in Landfill Gas Recovery Best Practices Emanating from experience providing technical assistance on a number of municipal landfill gas recovery projects, ISLGS prepared a set of best practice notes for preparing these projects to help municipal managers and technical staff better understand the issues before trying to embark on projects or negotiate PPP agreements. ISGLS was then able to reach agreement with longtime USAID and ISLGS partner, the South African Cities Network, to include and publish the practice notes in their widely distributed and respected annual Sustainable Cities Report. Solid Waste Management and Partnerships Training In providing direct technical assistance to municipalities for MSP projects in the solid waste sector, it quickly became clear that capacity constraints among municipal and national solid waste department staff were the major impediment to expanding the role of the private sector in solid waste management, as municipal officials often lack adequate capacity to move MSP projects forward. The gap in capacity centered mainly on technical and economic aspects; many officials had limited understanding of the fundamentals or the costs of recycling, waste reduction and cleaner production technologies. As a consequence, municipalities preferred to stick to the basics of collection and disposal, giving very little attention to recycling, waste reduction and cleaner production, where the private sector has the most to offer in terms of MSPs. In addition, it was troubling that several municipalities had adopted a zero waste to landfill strategy, incorrectly believing that it is national policy, without an adequate understanding of the ramifications, and opening themselves to inappropriate and costly solutions. Although DEAT had been mandated to build municipal capacity in solid waste management, it faced capacity problems of its own. To fill the gap, ISLGS formed a collaborative partnership with dplg, DBSA, and the DEAT to launch a capacity building workshop series in solid waste management. The training was targeted at public officials and ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 31

36 municipal councilors involved in solid waste operations and environmental management. Later, the training was conducted for DEAT staff members working in solid waste management at the national level. The workshops provided participants with an understanding of: 1) good practices in solid waste operations, particularly, refuse collection, landfill operations and recycling; 2) how to avoid poor and expensive decisions making with regard to solid waste operations; and the economics of recycling (costbenefit analysis). A total of 129 people participated in four provincially-based and one national level one-day workshops delivered by the ISLGS team. Due to the wide range of experience the participants, the training material varied from very basic information for the real beginners to advanced technology for the more experienced waste managers. The module on recycling was clearly the most popular and initiated the most discussion, particularly with regard to the lack of clear definition in national recycling policy. Raising Awareness of Renewable Energy and Climate Change Issues Over the life of the program, ISLGS collaborated with local and international partners to support a number of key events that served to build awareness and capacity in the South African local government sector of practical applications of renewable energy and climate change strategies. Activities described in detail in previous sections will only be mentioned briefly here. Energy and Climate Change Road Show - ISLGS conducted a series of municipal awareness raising workshops in five major centers to exchange and share knowledge on energy management and efficiency, water use efficiency, global climate change, as well as energy policy and regulatory practices. Key discussions were held on how to meet municipal service delivery challenges and reduce operational costs with measures that really work SA Cities Network Renewable Energy Summit - ISLGS support played a key role in the successful training of over 200 delegates in energy policy and climate change during the Cities Renewable Energy Summit, held in May 2008 in Stellenbosch. The event was convened by the South African Cities Network and hosted in association with USAID, and other key donors and energy sector partners. The Summit enabled local government decision makers to consider and discuss the merits of the shift to a renewable energy future, and as a consequence, address issues of global climate change, develop solutions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and prepare local communities for adaption. ISLGS also prepared and conducted a session entitled 'the business case for the rational use of energy' which emphasized practical, proven solutions that save energy and reduce municipal costs through presentation of USAID-funded case studies. Climate Change Summit - To coincide with World Environment Week in 2008, the City of Johannesburg in partnership with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) hosted a Climate Change Summit with specific focus on local government. Government chose the theme All hands on deck towards a low carbon economy to encourage all stakeholders to work together to reduce the impacts of climate change from developmental and economic activities. ISLGS made two presentations at the summit on Solid Waste as a Renewable Fuel and Watergy: Efficiency Case Study. A total of 100 public officials and waste managers participated in these two sessions. Demonstrating Practical Solutions Energy Efficient Housing - ISLGS partner PPT provided technical support to the KZN Department of Housing s Product Development Unit to investigate means of ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 32

37 integrating alternative energy technologies into the provision of subsidized housing. The ISLGS team identified technologies that reduce green house gas emissions and are suitable for use in subsidized housing, including solar water heaters, gel fuel stoves and showers, solar cookers, and solar photovoltaic appliances. These products were then incorporated into the design of a demonstration project for 1200 low income households to test the relevance of different alternative energy products in various contexts. Municipal Solar Water Heating As described in the energy section, ISLGS provided critical technical support for the implementation of a landmark renewable energy demonstration project for the installation of 1,263 low pressure solar water heating systems benefiting over 4,500 low income residents of the Zanemvula Housing Project in Port Elizabeth. This project marked the first mass rollout of solar water heating in the Metro and the focus on low income communities was specifically targeted to have a positive impact on eradicating poverty and improve social development. Energy savings from solar water heating translates into financial savings for the household as well as environmental benefits in terms of reduced carbon emissions. Also, decreased dependence on the use of paraffin or open fires for water heating corresponds with a decrease in associated respiratory disease as well as lowered fire risk and fewer burn wounds. AIR QUALITY MONITORING TRAINING PARTNERSHIP In 2005, the South African Air Quality Management Act mandated the development of a framework for national air quality management. Standards and regulations for this purpose were developed that called for air quality officers to be appointed at the municipal and provincial levels. Recognizing the severe capacity and skills gaps at the local and provincial levels in this highly technical field, DEAT requested training assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Subsequently, the USEPA planned, designed, and implemented a series of courses focused on air quality management, emissions inventory, and air quality monitoring for relevant South African national and local government officials in cooperation with USAID. Included in the program was support for a series of pilot air quality monitoring mentorship activities to train future trainers. While the training courses were considered to be highly relevant and effective, no sustainable mechanism for their continuation emerged as many of the key officials trained subsequently left government service and joined the private sector. Faced with the challenge of reviving the USEPA air quality training material in this context, ISGLS identified the private firm, Ecoserv, as uniquely positioned to take this capacity building program forward on a sustainable basis by drawing on its institutional and technical knowledge, as well as its substantial South African Government and industry experience and networks. An important element in deciding to partner with Ecoserv was that a principal of the firm was one of the key South Africans involved in the development and delivery of the original USEPA material. In early 2008, ISLGS and Ecoserv formed a partnership to plan, design, and implement an air quality monitoring workshop series that resulted in the training of 75 South African national and local government environmental officials, as well as representatives from private industry. ISLGS FINAL REPORT CLEAN HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 33