Removal of red tape
The Red Tape Reducation (RTR) task team, established to reduce excessively complex rules, regulations and procedures around work permits and visa administration, no longer exists as a stand-alone unit. The team, however, supported the implementation of recommendations from Operation Vulindlela (phase 1) working in this area. The outcomes included the publication of the Work Visa…
read more >>Licensing and production
Water use licenses for hydropower generation are not yet issued. It is related to the reform Water hydropower licensing HALTED: We stopped tracking this reform at end-June 2025. It is also part of the water hydropower licensing reform.
read more >>Blue Drop / Green Drop publication
Publish reports on the status of drinking water and wastewater systems. Blue Drop Report provides an assessment of drinking water quality. Green Drop Progress Assessment Report provides update on the performance of wastewater management systems at municipal level. The reports have been published.
read more >>Municipal intervention strategy
No or little evidence of action. HALTED: We stopped tracking this reform at end-June 2025 and merged it into OV2 wider water reforms programme.
read more >>Water Partnerships Office
To support municipalities to put in place partnerships with the private sector through standardised programmes, the Water Investment Authority operates as a special-purpose vehicle to facilitate public-private partnerships, manage funding and support municipalities (and water boards) in implementing water and sanitation-related projects. It also aims to address the challenges municipalities face, including a lack of…
read more >>National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Act
To support municipalities to put in place partnerships with the private sector. Also manages several priority programmes including water conservation and demand management, water reuse, wastewater treatment improvement and seawater desalination.
read more >>Policy document and implementation
The revised water pricing strategy (Pricing Strategy for Raw Water Use Charges) was published in the Government Gazette in June 2024, following the draft document in 2022. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202406/50852gon4992.pdf
read more >>Permanent strategy implemented
Water pricing strategy finalised. The department is conducting consultations with water users and water management institutions to discuss and prepare for the implementation of the updated water pricing strategy, which is scheduled to take effect from 1 April 2026
read more >>Spectrum auction
Icasa concluded its radio frequency spectrum auction in 2022 after a delay of more than a decade. The auction added R14,4bn to the national fiscus. However, some frequency band is still utilised by analogue broadcasters as the television analogue-digital conversion process is not complete. ICASA aims to free-up this spectrum for other uses as part…
read more >>Analogue switch off
The analogue switch off (ASO) is yet to be finalised as there remain beneficiary households without subsidised set-top boxes (STBs) for digital migration. Completion of the process has been continually delayed. The latest delay was due to the Gauteng High Court suspending the deadline following a legal challenge by broadcaster eTV and NGOs (Media Monitoring…
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