“Crossing over”: appropriate private sector principles, to operate more reliable public sector water services
Abstract
Private sector institutions utilise many different business methods, some of which can
selectively be adapted for use by organisations outside the private sector, to the benefit
of their service delivery responsibilities. But the best of the appropriate practices from
the private sector have often “not crossed over”.
The Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa, working in collaboration with
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), finds that the concept of
franchising, so successfully used by the private sector to deliver many goods and
services, if applied to water services operation and maintenance, could alleviate and
address many challenges in the management of water services. At the same time,
franchising could provide an ideal stimulus to support the development of local
enterprises, all within the municipal service delivery environment.
Franchisee water service providers, dependent for their livelihood on the success of
their business, would have a strong incentive to perform, and would also enjoy the
benefit of the franchisor’s expert guidance and quality assurance. Some areas for
potential franchising include meter management, billing, plumbing, pressure
management, sewer maintenance, and wastewater treatment processes.
The help from the franchisor would be of particular value to water services authorities at
a distance from the major urban centres. Few of these authorities can afford to employ
competent qualified staff, and often non-compliance with the laid down performance
standards is a direct consequence of this lack. Significant improvements would soon be
seen if the generally under-qualified and under-resourced water services staff could
have this ongoing support, mentoring and quality control — or if the authority could
enter into partnerships with small local enterprises or NGOs which would, through
franchising, enjoy the necessary ongoing support, mentoring and quality control, and
would have quick access to expert assistance when they needed it.