South Africa needs about R40-billion to deal with its backlog in water infrastructure, says the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

To address this and other critical water-related issues, the department will, in collaboration with the Water Research Commission (WRC), host the Water Infrastructure Investment Summit (WIIS), which is aimed at promoting investment in all aspects of water infrastructure.

The summit will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre on November 30.

Key stakeholders, including investors, funders, project developers, policymakers, regulators and local government partners will, as part of the WIIS, engage in a programme of action to create an enabling environment for investment and inclusive growth opportunities.

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane on Monday said the WIIS was aimed at prioritising the critical requirement for partnerships and collaboration in the water industry.

Water, she said, was of key importance in South Africa, which relies on a constrained resource. The fragility of South Africa’s water availability is further impacted on by high rates of evaporation and variable degrees of rainfall needed to replenish surface water resources.

Mokonyane described South Africa as a “spoilt nation” in terms of its water use, pointing out that, on average, water consumption in South Africa was 235 litres a person, a day, compared with the global average of 173 litres a person, a day.

Another aspect of consumption that requires urgent intervention is extensive “backward” irrigation solutions, which account for as much as 60% of national water consumption.

She also stressed the need to keep politics and water separate: “You can mess up a country by politicising water.”

To ensure the event is not held in vain, a post-event stewardship programme will be held for 12 months after WIIS. This stewardship programme is aimed at exploiting and capitalising on key points raised during the WIIS and to ensure various of these points are instituted or further developed to various degrees.

WRC director-general and CEO Dhesigen Naidoo noted that the WIIS was aimed at catalysing a “flood of investment”, and especially foreign direct investment, into water infrastructure in South Africa.