A key part of the enabling environment for an effectively-run water sector in Lesotho is high quality, over-arching documents in the form of the Water Act, the Lesotho Water and Sanitation Policy and the Long Term Water and Sanitation Strategy. The developed White Paper addresses the review of water legislation in Lesotho and more specifically the Water Act of 2008.
While this is not particularly old for a piece of legislation, the review carried out in the White Paper has highlighted the fact that much has changed in the intervening decade, both in terms of international trends and also local contextual issues. This means that the review was both timeous and highly strategic.
The importance of water to Lesotho emphasises that the water sector needs to stay on top of recent trends so that it can continue to manage this national asset in an effective manner. Probably the biggest shortfall is in the area of water services where it is apparent that the original Water Act was focussed almost exclusively on water resources. This is a significant shortcoming for a country such as Lesotho that has many challenges in terms of service delivery to the general population. In addition, however, even in the water resources arena, it is apparent that significant changes have occurred in the institutional environment, and it is foreseen that this will continue in future.
A holistic, strategic and highly participative process has been undertaken in terms of the development of the White Paper. The process has identified that there are significant strengths in the existing legislation but also critical challenges and shortfalls that need to be addressed in revised legislation.
The review process potentially even impacts into sister sectors and legislation where the analysis has revealed issues with respect to the harmonisation of legislation. The White Paper ensures that Lesotho stays up-to-date in terms of international best practices and modern trends in the sector. It therefore provides a critical stepping-stone in terms of the development of new legislation, be it in the forms of a revised overall holistic Water Act or a revised Water Act and a new Water Services Act. This is expected to strongly position Lesotho for effective management of the water sector going forward.
The White Paper was developed after a process involving benchmarking against international best practice and extensive stakeholder consultation. It commenced in August 2016 and was concluded in January 2018. The benchmarking process included a review of international water legislation to glean lessons and inputs to inform the review process. The stakeholder consultation included a survey of high-level decision-makers in the sector, a series of ten workshops; one in each district, and a national two-day workshop to present the proposals in the White Paper.