In establishing the pricing strategy, every attempt must be made to control costs by the application of sound financial management principles such as strict budgetary control. The new pricing strategy embraces the principle of transparency, which of itself should promote cost control. In terms of this principle, the forthcoming year’s sectoral charges that are developed during the budgetary process for each water management area will be forwarded to regional offices for dissemination and discussion with interested parties. Final sectoral charges will then be formalised and made available to the regional offices for re-distribution to the area offices, prior to the commencement of the financial year.

In addition, a summarised version of the budgeted trading accounts for the forthcoming year, detailing estimated deficits and surpluses of accounts, will be made available at the regional offices for discussion with the representative bodies of stake-holders, prior to the commencement of the financial year. Similarly, after financial year end, summarised trading accounts reflecting actual expenditure and revenue compared to budget expenditure and revenue for the year, will be made available at the regional offices. CMAs must introduce similar accounting practices.