lost it and 24 gained it for the first time, bringing the total to 38 (less than 5 percent) out of 787 systems that were assessed. the three top performers were johannesburg, cape town and the small town of bitou. water supply is increasingly under pressure. eutrophication is a growing concern, with about one third of the total volume of water held in strategic storage approaching the point where it is no longer fit for purpose without significant and costly management intervention. return flows out of mining areas, particularly from gold mining activities, are rapidly deteriorating, with highly acidic water starting to decant from abandoned and derelict mines. wastewater treatment 55% of wastewater treatment plants, especially smaller ones, do not meet effluent standards and some do not even measure effluent quality. in analogy to the blue drop certification system for drinking water, the government has launched a green drop certification for municipal wastewater treatment. as of may 2011, 7 out of 159 water supply authorities were certified with the green drop, and 32 out of 1,237 wastewater treatment plants. in 2009, when 449 wastewater treatment plants were assessed, according to official government data 7% were classified as excellently managed, 38% "performed within acceptable standards" and 55% did not perform within acceptable standards. according to bluewater bio, an international firm specialised in wastewater treatment, out of 1,600 wastewater treatment plants in south africa – not all of which were included in the green drop assessment – at least 60% are not meeting regulatory compliance requirements. according to a study by the south african water research commission in partnership with the south african local government association published in june 2013, 44% of wastewater treatment plants included in a representative sample used inappropriate and unnecessarily expensive technologies. there is a lack of funding for maintenance because of low tariffs, insufficient collection and the absence of ring-fencing of revenues for the purpose of maintaining assets, so that municipalities "run assets to failure". stakeholders the public water and sanitation sector in south africa is organised in three different tiers: the national government, represented by the department of water and sanitation (dws), as a policy setter. water boards, which provide primarily bulk water, but also some retail services and operate some wastewater treatment plants, in addition to playing a role in water resources management; municipalities, which provide most retail services and also own some of the bulk supply infrastructure. banks, the professional association wisa, the water research commission and civil society also are important stakeholders in the sector. policy and regulation the department of water affairs (dwa) in the ministry of water and environmental affairs is primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy governing water resources management as well as drinking water supply. concerning sanitation, "there is a worrying absence of regulation at all levels of government", according to an independent report. around 2010 the sanitation function has been moved from dwa to the department of human settlement (dhs), although some regulatory functions apparently remain with dwa, "causing institutional confusion over roles and responsibilities". service provision responsibility for service provision is shared among various entities: the country's 231 municipalities are in charge of water distribution and sanitation either directly or indirectly through municipally owned enterprises or private companies; government-owned water boards are in charge of operating bulk water supply infrastructure and some wastewater systems; and the trans-caledon tunnel authority finances and develops dams and bulk water supply infrastructure. map showing the districts (numbered) of south africa eastern cape free state gauteng kwazulu-natal limpopo mpumalanga north west northern cape western cape municipalities. according to the constitution, the municipal structures act and the water services act of 1997 responsibility for the provision of water and sanitation services lies with water services authorities, which the water services act defines as the municipalities. there are 52 district municipalities and 231 local municipalities in south africa (see municipalities of south africa). in many cases, the district municipalities are the water services authorities. however, the national government can assign responsibility for service provision to local municipalities. overall, there are 169 water services authorities in south africa, including water boards, district municipalities, local municipalities and municipal companies. usually municipalities provide water and sanitation services directly through a municipal unit or department. for example, ethekwini (durban) provides these services through the ethekwini water and sanitation unit. however, they can delegate this responsibility to a water services provider for a defined period. for example, in 2001 the city of johannesburg created johannesburg water, a legally and financially independent company wholly owned by the municipality. this was done as part of a "transformation plan" embarked upon by the greater johannesburg municipal authority at the time. johannesburg water has committed itself to comply with the provisions of the king report on corporate governance, including affirmative action, transparency, performance evaluation, a code of ethics, professional risk management and sustainability reporting. the 1996 constitution strengthened the autonomy of municipalities. as a consequence, the responsibility for rural water supply and sanitation has been transferred from the national government, represented by dwaf, to municipalities. main article: water privatisation in south africa private sector participation. since 1994 some municipalities have involved the private sector in service provision in various forms, including contracts for specific services such as wastewater treatment, short-term management contracts and long-term concessions. water boards. the 13 government-owned water boards play a key role in the south african water sector. they operate dams, bulk water supply infrastructure, some retail infrastructure and some wastewater systems. some also provide technical assistance to municipalities. trans-caledon tunnel authority. the trans-caledon tunnel authority (tcta) is a state-owned entity with the mission to finance and implement bulk raw water infrastructure. it was created in 1986 to develop the lesotho highland water project, a joint project between lesotho and south africa. as of 2012, tcta has developed or is developing six other dam and bulk water supply projects throughout the country, including the berg river dam. tcta sells bulk water to the government, represented by the department of water as the owner of the water boards that treat the water and sell it on to municipalities and mines. tcta uses these revenues mainly to repay the debt it has raised to finance its infrastructure, its operating costs and to pay royalties to the government of lesotho. others research, training and knowledge. south africa has a fairly strong research and training infrastructure in the water sector. the water research commission (wrc) supports water research and development as well as the building of a sustainable water research capacity in south africa. it serves as the country's water-centred knowledge 'hub' leading the creation, dissemination and application of water-centred knowledge, focusing on water resource management, water-linked ecosystems, water use and waste management and water utilisation in agriculture. the water institute of southern africa (wisa), a professional association, keeps its members abreast of the latest developments in water technology and research through its national and international liaison, links and affiliations. financiers and promoters. the development bank of southern africa (dbsa) is an important player in the water and sanitation sector, both as a financier and as an advisor and project promoter. in 2005–2006 about 29% of its approved projects were for water supply (1,881 million rand) and sanitation (165 million rand). other financing institutions in the sector include the infrastructure finance corporation limited, which claims to be the only 100% privately owned infrastructure debt fund in the world. civil society. south africa has a vibrant civil society, comprising a large number of non-governmental organisations (ngos) with very diverse goals, membership and methods. on the one hand, civil society includes militant so-called "new social movements" that sprang up after the end of apartheid, such as the western cape anti-eviction campaign formed in 2000 and the shack dweller organisation abahlali basemjondolo formed in 2005. they fight water cut-offs for non-payment and are engaged in "mass popular appropriation" of water services. these groups claim to represent the poorest and most oppressed people in south africa. on the other hand, civil society in south africa includes the mvula trust which has disbursed over r300 million to water services programmes and projects and has provided services to over a million south africans who previously did not have access to either water or sanitation services. it is specialised in implementing and supporting the delivery of water services in rural and peri-urban areas through community management, the establishment of community based water services providers and supporting local authorities to create an enabling environment for sustainability. human resources south africa experiences a brain drain that also affects the availability of qualified engineers in water and sanitation utilities. the number of civil engineers in municipalities has declined from 20 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1994 to 2.8 in 2009. one reason is the official policy of cadre deployment, whereby persons loyal to the ruling party, the african national congress, are given jobs in different branches of government. this intransparent process puts party loyalty ahead of competence and demoralises public service employees, according to a 2012 study by the human sciences research council. skilled staff are concentrated at the national and provincial levels, but there is a skills deficit at the municipal level. south africa does not have a unified civil service, so that there are no uniform standards for hiring and promotion at the municipal level. according to the study, there is also a high level of turnover of middle and senior managers in the civil service, due to stressful working conditions and opportunities for qualified professionals in the private sector. history and recent developments the skyline of johannesburg's central business district as seen from the observatory of the carlton centre during apartheid, the national government had no role in providing public water or sanitation services. the history of the water supply and sanitation sector since the end of apartheid has been characterised by a strong government commitment to increase access to services and a gradual reduction of the role of water boards and the national government in service provision. there has been tension between the goal of increased cost recovery enshrined in the water services act on the one hand, and the constitutional rights introduced in 1996 and the policy of free basic water introduced in 2001 on the other hand. there have been a number of controversies on policies in the sectors, including about private sector participation, which was introduced in the mid-1990s, the practice of cutting off water or installing flow restrictors for those who do not pay their bills, and the installation of pre-paid meters. transition in 1994, the first post-apartheid government assigned the department of water affairs and forestry the task of ensuring that all south africans would have "equitable access to water supply and sanitation". to that end, the community water supply and sanitation program was created to target key areas for instituting water and sanitation systems, and the national sanitation program was established to increase the rate of distribution of water and sanitation services. the passing of the constitution of the republic of south africa in 1996 created a new, constitutional dispensation with a guaranteed bill of rights. among those rights are the section 24(a) right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being, and the section 27(1)(b) right to sufficient water. the government also created new policies such as the water services act, the national environmental management act (nema) of 1998, and the national water act (nwa) of 1998 in order to target water and sanitation problems. water services act of 1997 in 1994 the government published its first white paper on water and sanitation policy, which led to the water services act of 1997. the act calls for higher cost recovery, which proved a challenge due to widespread poverty and a culture of non-payment for water in many townships, as a remnant of protests against apartheid. higher water tariffs and rigorous cut-offs for non-payment, or flow reductions through the installation of "tricklers" that allow only a very limited flow of water, imposed hardships on the poorest. the act also modified the role of water boards, providing a clear legal definition of the functions of water boards and municipalities. water boards have historically been the only bulk water providers. municipalities were obliged to buy water through them.