Promotors: Prof. Dr. Linden Vincent, Hoogleraar in de Irrigatie en Waterbouwkunde Prof. Dr. Dorothea Hilhorst, Hoogleraar in de Humanitaire Hulp en Wederopbouw Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Prof. Dr. C. Leeuwis, Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. K. Rowntree, Rhodes University, South Africa Dr. P. Hebinck, Wageningen Universiteit Dr. J. Woodhill, Wageningen International Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de onderzoeksschool: CERES Eliab Simpungwe Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, Prof. Dr. M.J. Kropff in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 19 december 2006 des namiddags te 13:30 uur in de Aula WATER, STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMON GROUND. Challenges for Multi-Stakeholder Platforms in Water Resource Management South Africa Wageningen University. Wageningen: Eliab Lloyd Simpungwe. 2006. p – 248 ISBN: 90-8504-544-4 Copyright © by 2006, Eliab Lloyd Simpungwe. CONTENTS List of Boxes, Figures, Maps, Plates and Tables iii Abbreviations and Acronyms v Acknowledgements vi Chapter One: Researching MSPs: An Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction and problem context 1 1.2 The rise and rise of MSPs 3 1.3 MSPs as “ participatory ” initiatives 5 1.4 Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) 11 1.5 Selecting the object of study. Why CMFs? 14 1.6 Positioning CMFs 18 1.7 Positioning CMFS within sociotechnical research in local water management 24 1.8 Common ground 26 1.9 Rationale behind this research in MSPs 27 1.10 Research methodology 28 1.11 Thesis structure 32 Chapter Two: Researching MSPs: Conceptual Debates and Analytical Framework 35 2.1 Why and how collective initiatives happen in resource management 35 2.2 Seeing MSPs as emergent ‘institutions’ 38 2.3 Understanding institutions 40 2.4 Analytical framework 42 2.5 Conclusion 46 Chapter Three: The CMFs’ Environment 49 3.1 How history matters 49 3.2 Path finding: Water reforms in South Africa 53 3.3 South Africa’s water situation 55 3.4 Hydro-policies 58 3.5 Hydro-institutional map 60 3.6 Institutional frameworks for flood disaster management 66 3.7 Conclusion 67 Chapter Four: A Tale of Two Catchments 69 4.1 The Eastern Cape Province 69 4.2 The Mthatha catchment and its CMF 73 4.3 The Kat catchment and its CMF 82 4.4 Conclusion 86 i Chapter Five: Learning about MSPs – Methods and Techniques 89 5.1 Studying the existence of MSPs 89 5.2 Desktop research (Secondary data collection) 90 5.3 Informal survey 93 5.4 Interviews 96 5.5 Participant observation 101 5.6 Stakeholder analysis 102 5.7 Workshops 104 5.8 Conclusion 111 Chapter Six: An Enquiry into CMF Emergence and Operations 115 6.1 Emergence processes: Institution-constitution complexities 115 6.2 Emergence processes: The challenge to mobilising contemporary collective action 120 6.3 Stakeholder representation: Attracting the interest of stakeholders 127 6.4 Stakeholder representation: Providing a portrait of an MSP 129 6.5 The fit of CMF purpose and agenda: Exploring the CMFs’ purpose 143 6.6 CMF purpose and agenda – the case of Mthatha CMF 146 6.7 CMF purpose and agenda – the case of Kat CMF 150 6.8 Relevance of CMF activities to the wider environment 154 6.9 Conclusion 155 Chapter Seven: MSPs’ as Actors in Flood Hazard Management 159 7.1 Flood disaster management – paradigm shifts 159 7.2 Vulnerability of local people to flood disasters 160 7.3 South Africa’s flood disaster scenario 163 7.4 Frameworks for building flood awareness and preparedness 166 7.5 Flood hazard and disaster management policy environment 168 7.6 An anatomy of disaster management actions 172 7.7 MSPs and flood hazard management 173 7.8 Conclusion 176 Chapter Eight: Institutionalisation of CMFs 179 8.1 Autonomy 179 8.2 Adaptability 183 8.3 Internal operations 187 8.4 Outputs and outcomes 189 8.5 Impediments to successful institutionalisation 191 8.6 Conclusion 203 Chapter Nine: Conclusion 205 9.1 A critical overview of CMFs 205 9.2 Avoiding throwing away the baby together with bath water 207 9.3 A final diagnosis 209 9.4 MSPs and the challenge ahead 219 ii Chapter Ten: Epilogue 221 10.1 The beauty of the beast 222 10.2 The researcher and the researched 223 10.3 The researcher’s point of view 224 Bibliography 227 Summary 243 Samenvatting 245 Curriculum Vitae 247 List of Boxes, Figures, Maps, Plates and Tables. Boxes: Box 1.1 Agenda 21 4 Box 1.2 How flood risk reduction strategies are related to water management 24 Box 4.1 Groundwater might prove sustainable 75 Box 5.1 Informal survey questions 94 Box 5.2 First joint workshop between Kat and Mthatha CMFs 105 Box 5.3 Second joint workshop between Mthatha and Kat CMFs 108 Box 5.4 Last research workshop in the Kat catchment 109 Box 6.1 The Landcare project in the Kat catchment 151 Box 6.2 Meetings as a CMF activity 153 Box 7.1 Four die in floods 164 Box 7.2 The Southern African floods of 2000 164 Box 7.3 Dam failure causes flooding in Cape Flats 171 Figures Figure 2.1 Analytical framework 43 Figure 2.2 Framework for studying the processes of institutionalisation 45 Figure 3.1 An overview of existing water institutions in South Africa 66 Figure 3.2 Disaster management institutional framework 67 Figure 5.1 Research methods and tools link together to extract meaning and awareness about CMFs 90 Figure 5.2 Illustration of how the selection process of households interviewed during informal survey was conducted 94 Figure 5.3 Informal survey demographics of respondents – Kat catchment 95 Figure 5.4 Informal survey demographics of respondents – Mthatha catchment. 95 Figure 5.5 Main source of income in Mthatha catchment 96 Figure 5.6 Main source of income in Kat catchment 96 iii Maps Map 3.1 Water Resource Management Areas in South Africa and research study area 63 Map 4.1 Position of Eastern Cape Province in South Africa and research study areas 70 Map 4.2 ECP in relation to the former Transkei and Ciskei 70 Map 4.3 ECP river system with Kat and Mthatha catchments 71 Map 4.4 Mthatha catchment showing Mthatha River with its tributaries and Mthatha dam on the upper reaches of the catchment 73 Map 4.5 Kat catchment with dam on the upper reaches of the catchment 82 Plates 1 Participants of first joint workshop engage in joint learning over land degradation in the Kat catchment 113 2 Typical landscape of Mthatha catchment 113 3 The contrast between Mthatha urban and Mthatha rural 114 4 Export citrus orchards along the Kat River 114 Tables Table 4.1 Available water in year 2000 in WMA 12 76 Table 4.2 Year 2025 base scenario water requirements for WMA 12 76 Table 4.3 Water usage by commercial farms in the Kat catchment 83 Table 4.4 Differences between Mthatha and Kat CMFs 86 Table 5.1 Summarised quantitative data on CMFs from archival and documentary sources 91 Table 5.2 Examples of documentation used in understanding the unit of analysis 92 Table 5.3 Key sources of information from interview 97 Table 5.4 How data was summarised from participant observation 102 Table 5.5 Propositions of lessons learned 112 Table 6.1 Summary of stakeholder typology 141 Table 6.2 Issues that the Mthatha CMF concerned itself with during research study period 147 Table 6.3 Issues that the Kat CMF concerned itself with during research study period 150 Table 6.4 Results of the informal survey 154 Table 7.1 Recent histories of flood disasters in South Africa 165 Table 8.1 Operations undertaken by CMFs 182 Table 8.2 Wider institutional environment in Mthatha and Kat Catchments 184 iv Abbreviations and Acronyms ANC African National Congress CBNRM Community-Based Natural Resource Management CMA Catchment Management Agency CMF Catchment Management Forum DOA Department of Agriculture DEAT Department for Environmental Affairs and Tourism DPLG Department for Provincial and Local Government DWAF Department of Water Affairs and Forestry ECP Eastern Cape Province ESKOM Electricity Company of South Africa HDIs Historically Disadvantaged Individuals ICM Integrated Catchment Management RBDPM River Basin Development Planning and Management IWMI International Water Management Institute IWRM Integrated Water Resource Management LHWP Lesotho Highland Water Project MDMC Municipal Disaster Management Centres MSP Multi-Stakeholder Platform NDMC National Disaster Management Centre NGO Non-Governmental Organisations NP National Party NRM Natural Resource Management NWA National Water Act No. 36 of 1998 PDI Previously Disadvantaged Individuals PDMC Provincial Disaster Management Centres PNRM Participatory Natural Resource Management RSA Republic South Africa SANCO South Africa National Community Organisation SMME Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise SRBD Sustainable River Basin Development UDM United Democratic Movement UNITRA University of Transkei WMA Water Management Area WUA Water User Associations WWP Working for Water Programme v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I think Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) are an exciting development and a powerful concept that has happened in natural resource management in the recent years. The potential for a diverse group of stakeholders in a river basin to work together in consensual decision-making, when there is such a disparity in their interests and backgrounds, as can be observed in South Africa, is something to be inquisitive about. I am truly grateful to the chair of the Irrigation and Water Engineering Group for granting me the opportunity to study this phenomenon. The advertisement for a PhD study on emergence and functioning of Multi-Stakeholder Platforms in Water Resource Management in flood–prone catchments of Southern Africa reached me through Professor Pearson Mnkeni of University of Fort Hare in South Africa.