The Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) has launched its “Konkhe nga Water” campaign, aimed at educating the public on the importance of water, promoting responsible consumption and improving customer interaction through technology.
The launch of the campaign brought together EWSC officials, including Managing Director (MD) Jabulile Mashwama, Senior Manager ICT Innocent Mkhombe, Project Manager Nobuhle Matsebula and Manager: Channels Banele Nxumalo, who participated in a conversation on the role of water in everyday life and the corporation’s efforts to improve service delivery.
Speaking during the campaign launch, EWSC Managing Director Jabulioe Mashwama said the campaign was developed to help customers recognise that water goes far beyond drinking, as it is essential to almost every aspect of daily life. 
“Water makes so much possible,” the MD said, explaining that water is needed for activities such as bathing, education, agriculture, businesses and community development.
Mashwama noted that many people tend to underestimate their daily water needs because they primarily associate water with drinking.
“When we were asked how much water you need a day, people thought, ‘I just need the water to drink,’ and they said one litre, two litres.
But water goes beyond that,” she said. She said the campaign seeks to change how consumers view water by helping them understand its value and the role it plays in their lives.
The campaign also aims to encourage greater responsibility towards water conservation, with EWSC hoping that increased awareness will motivate communities to protect the resource.
“We’re hoping that as we take this campaign through to the nation, then we’ll begin to look at water differently, understand the value it has and the role it plays in our lives,” she said.
Beyond water education and conservation, the campaign will also focus on improving the way customers interact with EWSC.
On digital convenience, Manager: Channels Banele Nxumalo said the corporation is undergoing transformation aimed at making its services more convenient and accessible to customers through technology. This includes helping customers access information about their water accounts, make payments conveniently, and monitor and manage their water consumption.
Nxumalo said customers could now make payments, log faults and terminate accounts without having to physically visit a service centre.
“This is to allow a simple and convenient customer experience and to adopt a customer cost-effective approach,” he added.
He said technology rolled out by EWSC is intended to make accessing services easier regardless of where customers are.
The campaign therefore seeks to connect two key messages, the importance of water and the importance of making water-related services easier for customers to access.
“This campaign is really about what water makes possible and what EWSC makes possible for you, our customer,” he said.
The corporation is expected to take the campaign to the wider public as it seeks to build greater awareness around responsible water use while strengthening customer engagement and service delivery.
Senior Manager ICT Innocent Mkhombe spoke of a system that allows Emaswati to manage their water consumption.
The prepaid metering is a manage-as-you-use system that allows customers to pay for the amount of water they want to consume, shifting from the billing-after-use system that the cooperative was using before.
“The system has already been implemented, and 5000 customers are already using the system”, Mkhombe said.
Project Manager Nobuhle Matsebula said there are ongoing projects in areas where EWSC wasn’t operating and in rural areas, making an example of Maphungwane in Lubombo.
Matsebula said that water projects like this bring clean water closer to the people, cutting down on those long journeys and expenses in order to get water.
“This means improved health and hygiene for emaSwati; it means that the girl child no longer has to miss school because they had to walk a long distance to get water,” she added.
