Forestry during the unveiling of the Taung Dam Memorial Stone, Manthe Village,
Taung
8 September 2007
Premier Molewa
Premier Peters
MECs
Executive Mayor of the Bophirima District Municipality
Mayor of Greater Taung Local Municipality
Members of Parliament
Members of the Provincial Government
Councillors
Traditional leaders
Programme Director
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Introduction
I am honoured to be here to unveil the Taung Dam Memorial Stone. Today we
paying tribute and commemorating our ancestors whose graves are buried under
the waters of the Taung Dam. So that we acknowledge and remember them, the
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has constructed this memorial
stone.
Part of the unfortunate history of our country is that when dams were built
during Apartheid the rights of communities and their culture were often
ignored, as a result we saw dams like the Taung Dam being built over grave
sites without the graves being removed. Furthermore, during the construction of
these large dams inadequate attention was paid to the impact on people's
lives.
We also saw that they built these dams during that period it was often for
only a single purpose sometimes just for agriculture, or just for industry, or
only for water for domestic uses. As a result we see that huge dams were built
yet the people living near the dam were not given access to clean water.
Since 1994 we have changed our approach so that such large projects are in
line with our constitution and with our democratic principles. As a result of
these changes, today we are seen by the rest of the world as leaders in how to
involve communities and protect the environment when we construct new dams.
In 1998 the former Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, the honourable
Professor Kader Asmal led the World Commission on Dams which looked at the best
way to build new dams, taking into account: equity, efficiency, participatory
decision making; sustainability; and accountability.
By using the guidelines of the World Commission on Dam, when we now build
new dams, such as the new dam currently being built in Sekhukune in Limpopo, we
work very closely with the community. This approach ensures that not only are
the community extensively consulted on the new dam, and their ancestral burial
sights taken care off, but also that the community are able to access some of
the work and business opportunities that arise from such projects. We have also
ensured that in building these new dams the water can be used for multiple
purposes, and the local community will benefit by receiving clean water, steps
that will ensure for this new dam in Sekhukune that hundreds of thousands of
people will benefit.
The approach we now take is very different from what was done when the Taung
Dam was built by the former Bophuthatswana administration.
From the World Commission on Dams report we set up a multi stakeholder forum
that recommended we look at addressing unresolved social concerns from existing
dams and we explore and implement ways for local communities to share in the
benefits of dams. My department supported these two proposals and is part of
the reason we are here today.
2. A tree of remembrance
Programme Director, in addition to the memorial stone that we are unveiling
today we will also be planting a tree in memory of our ancestors.
Each year we celebrate Arbour Week during the first week of September and
for the past week we have held events across the country to create awareness
amongst our people of the many benefits that trees can bring to their lives. We
celebrated trees with our President and the community of Ga-Rankuwa last week
Saturday; and the President at that event spoke from the heart about the need
to plant more trees across the country and he launched our campaign to plant at
least a million trees a year, the majority of them fruit trees.
Ladies and gentlemen, aside from the many economic and environmental
benefits of trees, trees are important for social reasons and across different
religions and cultures they have a special significance. In some countries
people plant trees when children were born or they plant them as a celebration
of a great event in their lives. People also plant trees in order to remember
someone who had died, as a symbol to make sure the memories of that person live
on. I hope that in planting this tree today we are sending a powerful message
to our ancestors that we have not forgotten them. Through the trees that we are
planting in their memory we will also be contributing to building a better life
for this community.
Trees can also bring people together and they can be a symbol of
reconciliation in communities. Let us look at this tree and the others that
will be planted in this community as a way of bringing people together in a
spirit of renewal, of growth, in a spirit of commemoration and
reconciliation.
3. Heritage Month
Ladies and gentlemen, the month of September is a very important month in
our calendar, because it gives us an opportunity to celebrate the rich heritage
we share as South Africans. It is a time for reflection, a time for celebration
and a time to recommit ourselves to continue valuing and protecting our diverse
heritage. Our former President, Mr Nelson Mandela, in his 1996 Heritage Day
speech stated: "When our first democratically-elected Government decided to
make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so because we knew that our
rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power to help build and unite
our new nation."
May the Taung Dam Memorial Stone, which will be unveiled here today, become
part of our heritage and may it serve to unite the people of Taung and the
Kolong/Dikgageng people in particular.
4. Taung Dam
This Memorial Stone is also a symbol of the injustices and insensitivity of
many of the developments of the past, and a reminder to us that we should not
allow these things in the future.
At the time that the Taung Dam was built studies showed that the Dam could
provide significant benefits for food production and food security, however,
the Dam's potential could never be fully utilised as no infrastructure was
provided to convey water from the Taung Dam to the areas with irrigation
potential. We need to ensure that this Dam is utilised for socio-economic
projects to the benefit of the communities around Taung, and my department is
currently looking how this can take place. As the Dam also offers tourism and
recreational opportunities, the North West Parks and Tourism Board is in the
process of establishing a Protected Environment around the Taung Dam. This will
mean job opportunities for local people in the Tourism Sector.
Our government is committed to creating a better life for our people and to
the provision of basic services. For water and sanitation, my specific area of
work, we are committed to providing access to clean water and access to basic
sanitation for all of our people. Lack of access to water and basic sanitation
brings the risk of ill-health or even death and undermines people's dignity. We
are still facing a backlog in water supply and sanitation in the Greater Taung
Local Municipality and I want to assure you that my department in collaboration
with our water sector partners are working to address these backlogs, and
within the timeframes set by government. Surely, the water available from the
Taung Dam can be used to support our basic water supply and sanitation
programmes.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to say that the Government cares about its people, and
my Department will work hard so that there is water available to support basic
water supply, support agriculture, feed our people and create jobs.
We feel strong that in building new dams the people who are directly
affected by the development of the Dam should benefit from the process. In
doing this we carefully plan and manage processes to achieve and reconcile many
different objectives.
I would like us to now spend a moment of silence in memory of our
ancestors.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
8 September 2007
