Editing Water supply and sanitation in South Africa (section)

==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.<ref>Marius van Aardt:A south African story:Silulumanzi's perspective, in: Transforming the World of Water, Global Water Summit 2010, Global Water Intelligence and International Desalination Association, p. 156–157</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ahmed Areff, News24|title=Cadre deployment: 'Loyalty ahead of competence'|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Cadre-deployment-Loyalty-ahead-of-competence-20120712|publisher=Modimowabarwa Kanyane, Human Sciences Research Council|access-date=4 September 2012|date=12 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mandy de Waal, allAfrica.com|title=South Africa: Cadre Deployment, Cronyism and the Paving of SA's Highway to Hell|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201208030379.html|access-date=4 September 2012}}</ref>