When you turn on your tap, you expect clean, safe water. You don’t think about the individual who made it possible. You don’t see the Process Controllers who work all night long, ensuring that water and wastewater treatment processes continue uninterrupted. You don’t see the countless decisions and adjustments made every day from chemical dosing, treatment processes optimisation to laboratory testing and regulatory compliance monitoring. You don’t see the professional whose decisions protect them from waterborne diseases, prevent untreated wastewater from polluting rivers and keep entire communities healthy. Yet when those professionals are absent, or when there simply aren’t enough of them – the consequences become impossible to ignore.
Across South Africa, too many communities continue to experience poor quality drinking water, polluted rivers, sewage spills and failing wastewater treatment works. While ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance and funding constraints are often identified as major contributors, another crisis receives far less attention: a growing shortage of skilled and professionally certified Process Controllers.
This is particularly significant in the context of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Water Action Plan, which recognises that resolving South Africa’s water crisis requires more than infrastructure investment. It requires functioning institutions, effective maintenance, stronger accountability and critically, the technical and professional capability to operate and sustain the country’s water systems. Because infrastructure alone cannot produce safe water. That is why South Africa’s decision to professionalise Process Controllers through Regulation 3630 under the Water Services Act marks one of the most significant reforms in the country’s water sector in decades. But nearly a year later (after compliance deadline of June 30, 2025), an important question remains:
Has professionalisation translated into better water services, or has it simply produced more registered professionals without changing how they are supported and empowered?
For decades, Process Controllers were often viewed simply as treatment plant operators. Regulation 3630 changes that narrative, as it formally recognises Process Controllers as regulated professionals responsible for safeguarding public health, protecting water resources and ensuring environmental compliance. Professional registration means that Process Controllers are expected to meet recognised competency standards, continually develop their skills and uphold professional accountability. This represents a fundamental shift, from operating equipment to becoming custodians of South Africa’s water security. However, registration alone cannot improve water quality.
Municipalities, Water Services Authorities, Water Boards and Water Services Providers must also transform the way they recruit, develop and utilise these professionals. Unless organisations empower Process Controllers to influence operational decisions, manage risks and improve compliance, professional registration risks becoming little more than another certificate on the wall.
Many South Africans have heard of Blue Drop and Green Drop, but few understand what they measure.
- The Blue Drop Certification Programme assesses the quality of drinking water supplied by municipalities, measuring whether treatment systems consistently provide safe water that meets national standards.
- The Green Drop Certification Programme evaluates how effectively wastewater treatment works protect rivers, dams and the environment from pollution.
Together, these programmes serve as South Africa’s report card on water and sanitation performance. Strong Blue Drop and Green Drop scores mean communities receive safer drinking water, healthier rivers and better environmental protection. Poor scores signal operational weaknesses that place public health and ecosystems at risk.
The recently released Green Drop 2025 National Performance Overview reveals that South Africa still faces a significant shortage of skilled Process Controllers. While most Plant Supervisors meet competency requirements, only around half of Process Controllers currently do, leaving a national shortfall of more than 1,151 qualified professionals and 84 Supervisors.
The report also reveals a clear pattern. Provinces with stronger technical capacity, including Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape generally perform better in Green Drop assessments. Provinces with fewer qualified Process Controllers are far more likely to operate wastewater systems that are classified as critical.
The lesson is simple. Better infrastructure matters. But competent people make infrastructure work.
Professional Process Controllers should not simply operate treatment plants. They should lead compliance improvement, strengthen Water Safety Plans, support wastewater risk management, mentor younger professionals, improve operational efficiency and help municipalities respond proactively to regulatory challenges. These are exactly the areas where many municipalities continue to struggle.
Recognising this need, EWSETA has partnered with WISA to strengthen the professionalisation of Process Controllers by supporting professional registration, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and lifelong learning. The partnership reflects a shared understanding that South Africa’s water future depends not only on new infrastructure, but on building a capable workforce equipped to operate, maintain and improve it. Professional competence is not achieved through a single qualification, it is sustained through continuous learning, workplace experience and institutional support.
As South Africa continues to confront water insecurity, climate pressures and ageing infrastructure, one truth is becoming increasingly clear: Water security is ultimately a people issue. Every safe glass of water begins with a competent professional making informed decisions behind the scenes.
Professionalising Process Controllers was an important first step. The next challenge is ensuring these professionals are recognised, empowered and trusted to lead. Because protecting South Africa’s water future is about far more than meeting regulatory requirements. It is about investing in the people whose expertise keeps taps flowing, rivers healthy and communities safe.
Professionalise the profession. Empower the people. Secure South Africa’s water future.
