Institutional path dependency and transition management in integrated water resource management in South Africa

The advocates of the transition sustainability paradigm acknowledge the role of institutions (regime practices) to establish enforceable legislation to tackle environmental problems. In this respect, a radical systemic reconfiguration in regime practices is required to achieve sustainability objectives, i.e. sustainable water resource management. Drawing on the theoretical and methodological foundations of governance in the water domain, we strive to develop a new way of thinking about institutional water practices in South Africa. South Africa water legislation received a radical overhaul with the passing of the new National Water Act in 1998. Previously based on a centralized and authoritarian water resource management system, the revised legislation now frames water resource management within the context of three fundamental principles: sustainability, equity and efficiency. However, problems in the implementation of the legislation remain significant. We approach institutional water practices in South Africa with inspiration from transition theory. Both multi-level and multi-phase perspectives from transition theory are employed to identify actors at various levels. Focusing on the regime level, we utilize one of the path dependency patterns, a reactive sequence, to present our analysis of the implementation of the Act. In tackling the challenges of the implementation, we conclude with some implications of transition management as a process of gathering and synthesizing a wide variety of perspectives from niche and landscape levels with relation to regime practices. We propose that the overall implementation of the Act comprises a long-term transition towards integrated water resource management (IWRM) in South Africa. It is suggested that transition management cycles are implemented repeatedly over a period of around 5 years. This is an interactive, participatory stakeholder-process aimed at learning and experimenting in order to lead the direction of transition towards sustainable water management.