Water and Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi will on Friday, 3 September 2010, depart for Stockholm, Sweden, where she will participate during the World Water Week (WWW) representing South Africa from 5 to 10 September 2010.
World Water Week Stockholm is an annual gathering at which the world community of water and sanitation development professionals meets and discusses issues surrounding evolutionary progress and prospects on water. Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), it brings together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the globe to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions.
Discussions cover various water and related issues with the purpose to increase awareness and stimulate action on human daily activities that impacts on the environment i.e. water, land and air. The main focus of the 2010 World Water Week is to analyse progress with regards to water quality as a response to challenges facing the global water sector, hence the theme “Water quality challenges-prevention, wise use and abatement”.
The 2010 South African Youth Water Prize winners, Ms Nomfundo Zondi and Mr Mduduzi Dlamini from MehlokaZulu High School in KwaZulu-Natal will accompany the Deputy Minister and represent South Africa in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP), where they will be competing with learners from 31 countries. The South African Youth Water Prize commences at provincial and then national level whereby the national winner is selected.
Their project is titled “Solar powered waste management system”. Their research project started from the desire to address a problem of high water bills and electricity bills incurred by their school, when water supply was suspended for a period of three weeks due to mismanagement of water. Their project is about filtration of water using sterilisation and pasteurisation of water. It is promoting re-use of water and it addresses various environmental issues.
However one of the learners, Mduduzi is an orphan who lives in the abject of poverty. Their educator Miss Thoko Njoko has been very instrumental in their development as she has been supporting them both financially and academically since the start of their project.
Through South African Youth water prizes, the department encourages high school learners to identify water and sanitation related problems, conduct research and come up with innovative solutions to the identified problems. An adjudication panel composed of representatives from the Water Sector and tertiary institutions guided by the criteria set by the international adjudication panel from Sweden is established to evaluate proposals developed by the learners.
Enquiries:
Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
E-mail: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
