Programme Director;
Conveners of the Progressive Business Forum;
Members of the Progressive Business Forum;
Business delegation;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening!
Today, people from across the globe celebrated the annual World Environmental Day under the theme: Think, Eat, Save.
These celebrations coincide with the commemoration of the Environmental and Youth Month here in South Africa.
In the past nineteen years of democracy government has reached many milestones in ensuring access to water and creating an environment that is healthy and not harmful to all the inhabitants of the country.
We remain convinced that development problems facing our country require stronger partnerships with business, NGOs and the communities and leadership at all levels. It is for this reason that I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity I have been presented by the Progressive Business Forum to explore possible areas of collaboration.
National Development Plan
Through the National Development Plan (NDP) our government is aiming at eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by 2030. According to the plan, South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.
The National Development Plan (NDP) offers a long-term perspective. It defines a desired destination and identifies the role different sectors of society need to play in reaching that goal.
Coming to our Portfolio, the Plan aims to ensure that all South Africans attain a decent standard of living through the elimination of poverty and reduction of inequality.
The NDP seeks to attain the following in terms of water resources:
- A comprehensive management strategy including an investment programme for water resource development, bulk water supply and wastewater management for major centres by 2012, with reviews every five years.
- Complete phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands water project by 2020.
- Timely development of several new water schemes to supply urban and industrial centres, new irrigation systems in the Umzimvubu river basin and Makhathini Flats, and a national water conservation programme to improve water use and efficiency.
- Create regional water and wastewater utilities, and expand mandates of the existing water boards (between 2012 and 2017).
From an environmental perspective South Africa faces several related challenges, some of which are in conflict.
The country needs to:
- protect the natural environment in all respects, leaving subsequent generations with at least an endowment of at least equal value.
- enhance the resilience of people and the economy to climate change.
- extract mineral wealth to generate the resources to raise living standards, skills and infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency.
I am sure we all agree that empowerment of women should be central to any strategy that aims at dealing with the fundamental causes of poverty.
Women empowerment programmes and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) development
Water is a catalyst to development, and yet it is an extremely scarce commodity in our country. The little that we have should be Conserved, Respected, Shared and Enjoy by present and future generations in our country.
If we can fail to do the basics we will also not achieve our socio-economic developmental plans.
As the custodian of water resources, we have the following key challenges in attaining our goals and these can be briefly summarised as follows:
- Increased environmental pollution from various economic sectors like manufacturing, mining, agriculture also not forgetting the domestic sector.
- Ageing infrastructure which does not only results to disruption in services but also inhibits new development in many parts of our cities
- Huge water losses brought about by old infrastructure, leaking taps and general ignorance about the importance of water conservation in our society.
- Lack of appreciation of the importance of water as an enabler for development.
The government has invested a lot of money for the development of infrastructure, however, very little investment has gone into water resources management and in the department this has been my focus. In line with policy frameworks like the New Growth Path in the department, we have sought creative ways of integrating job creation and poverty eradication in our water resources management programmes. In this process, we have put a lot of emphasis on the role women should play.
We all know women are the world's principal food producers and providers and are assuming an increasing role in agriculture, partly because of the rural-to-urban migration of men.
Women and female children spend more than 10 million person - years carrying water from distant sources every year.
According to some studies, Medical research has documented cases of permanent damage to women's health attributed to carrying water. Problems range from chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic deformities, to effects on reproductive health such as spontaneous abortions.
Women are most often the collectors, users and managers of water in the household as well as farmers of irrigated and rain fed crops. Because of these roles, women have considerable knowledge about water resources, including quality and reliability, restrictions and acceptable storage methods, and are key to the success of water resources development and irrigation policies and programmes.
It has been calculated that in South Africa alone, women collectively walk the equivalent distance of 16 times to the moon and back per day gathering water for families.
In this context, I therefore wish to take the opportunity to share with you our programmes where women are playing an instrumental role in ensuring that our water resources are protected and conserved to sustain present and future generations.
Women in Water Awards
The Women in Water Awards is an annual programme launched in 2002. It seeks to recognise, congratulate and honour the good work done by women and the vital role they play in the water sector, encourages perseverance in difficult conditions without resources and for communities to learn good practices of water management and change their attitudes for the better.
The awards are presented in four different categories, namely Adopt a River, Water Conservation, Education and Awareness and Community Development. The requirements for projects to be awarded prizes are that they should clearly support the national objectives on water management and they should promote innovative and sustainable solutions to water management and demonstrate greater women’s participation and involvement.
War on leaks:
This is the project that is targeting youth. Youth are given skills (basic plumbing) to address different types of water leaks in the community with the major aim of stopping water wastage.
Heeding the clarion call by President Zuma to reduce water loss by half in 2014, we intensified the roll out of the War on Leaks project aimed at reducing unaccounted for water through leaking pipes and taps whilst creating jobs and skills development.
This project is currently being implemented in municipalities such as Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Randfontein Local Municipality, Mogale City, Sedibeng District Municipality and many others. Local indigent youth were trained and appointed as Water Conservation Warriors to implement the education and awareness programme as well as the retrofitting and leak repair initiative. These Water Warriors undergo basic training on plumbing, water leak repair and other skills training that would help them to develop SMME’s which would service the communities to create more permanent employment.
Adopt a River
Adopt a River project was launched in 2010. It emanates from the river health programme that is aimed at addressing the challenges of pollution of water resources e.g. rivers, wells, pits, dams etc. in the country. The targeted participants are unemployed women with female youth constituting a greater percentage.
We brought rural women on board to prove that water resource management is not for engineers and scientists only. People with indigenous knowledge have a key role to play, hence the conceptualisation and implementation of the Adopt a River project.
This project aims to clean polluted rivers whilst creating job opportunities and skills development for women. It also educates communities residing along river catchments about the importance of water conservation. During 2012/13 financial year, twenty four (24) rivers were cleaned and 1 148 job opportunities for women were created. Last year during the budget vote speech I made an announcement that we will put some of these women in our skills development programme to tell a story that says “I was a river cleaner now I am a Scientist”. I am proud to report to you that forty four (44) women will be awarded bursaries in this financial year to study at Universities and FET Colleges.
In some cases, women have volunteered to work even without stipends and it is our wish to at least provide them with protective clothing and some form of income.
Ladies and gentlemen, the overall offspring benefits of these projects is that SMMEs made significant financial gains. These gains are access to mainstream economy wherein a KZN group of women bottle water from water flow steam that gets purified and sold to the main market. In Limpopo, Sekhukhune municipality a water based women project sells its agri-products to local giant supermarket which boosts local economy. The department appointed Rand water as implementing of its successful Adopt a River project in Gauteng, out of which a small enterprise was subcontracted for operational roll out.
The implementation of the above-mentioned projects collectively has the following benefits:
- Create jobs for unemployed women and youth;
- Alleviate poverty;
- Create training opportunities that promote self-esteem and life skills development;
- Provide communities with a caring and trusting environment that encourages personal development;
- Promote the spirit of volunteerism;
- Provide education on preserving the environment;
- Removal of solid waste from the rivers and a sense of ownership.
The implementation in these programmes is not smooth and without challenges, amongst these challenges, let me mention a few:
- Lack of funding for sustainability of the projects;
- Lack of sustainability when it comes to providing stipends due to limited funding;
- Lack of protective clothing;
- Capacity building;
- Continuous awareness campaigns;
- Lack of Business related skills.
It is my dream to see more women getting involved in our programmes. We will continue to look at creative ways of building more SMME’S, cooperatives and skills that women can use to get into the job market. In our department, there is strong move to link these programmes with our bursary programme and the Learning Academy which is aimed at ensuring that young graduates get an opportunity to get experience post graduation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to appeal to all business people gathered here this evening to join hands with us to ensure that these and other programmes targeting women could be sustainable and not restricted to few months of implementation. Working together with business people we would assist women who are volunteering at different areas to clean the rivers without stipends and other resources. This would also encourage the development of more SMME’s that will contribute to the creation of permanent jobs.
The success of these projects depends on active participation and commitment of three tiers of government, community leaders and communities, tertiary institutions, private sector, agricultural sector and industries.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, I thank you for this opportunity, I am looking forward to working with you in ensuring that our water resources are well managed and creating opportunities for our youth and women to benefit from these initiatives.
Water is life! Conserve it, Respect it, Enjoy it!
Thank you.
