the Berg Water Project, Franschhoek
5 March 2009
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Ms Lindiwe Hendricks
Premier of the Western Cape, Lynne Brown
MEC for Agriculture, Cobus Dowry
Mayors and Councillors
Directors General and other senior officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Water is an essential source of life. All living organisms, both the animal
and plant kingdoms would not survive without water. In fact, everything that we
do as human beings depends on water: the food that we produce; the minerals
that we extract from the earth; and the goods that we manufacture as part of
the ongoing struggle for a better life.
It was for this reason that when the democratic government took office in
1994 and set out to create âa better life for allâ, it set as one of its top
priorities, the provision of safe drinking water to millions of South Africans
who for many years had to struggle to access this essential source of
life.
Today we feel proud because in many parts of our country people no longer have
to struggle to access safe drinking water, thanks to the policies and
programmes we introduced since 1994. We have also drastically reduced the
number of people without access to basic sanitation and are confident that
South Africa will meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in terms of the
provision of safe drinking water and basic sanitation. In fact, our own target
is to ensure that all South Africans have universal access to safe drinking
water by 2014. To achieve this, we recognise that more still needs to be
done.
Government continues to do more to guarantee security of continuous supply
of water for both domestic and industrial use. The Berg Water project, which we
are launching here today, is part of our commitment to water security. Whereas
15 years ago water security only meant servicing the needs of agriculture and
industry and was the preserve for the privileged few, water security today
means meeting the needs of industry and all the people, black and white.
This comes at a price for a country that is already deemed water scarce. The
more our economy grows and the more people we connect to clean running water
the more strain there is on our water resources. With almost 90% of our people
already having access to clean running water, combined with the effects of
climate change, chief amongst them being changing weather patterns, every drop
of water has become even more precious. The Western Cape has experienced
sustained periods of drought and creeping desertification. The result has been
the imposition of severe water restrictions and intensive research into
alternative sources of water and the conservation of existing sources.
This dam is the culmination of a process where need translated into an idea
and the idea led to the implementation of this project driven by people who
planted the seeds that would come into fruition beyond their term of office. In
this regard, we remember those in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry,
led by then Minister Kader Asmal, as well as the former Chairperson of the
Executive Committee of the City of Cape Town, Salim Mowzer, who recognised the
need and acted on it.
I would like to pay tribute to the people of the Western Cape for funding
the construction of this dam through an annual increase of about 2,5% on their
water tariffs for 10 years. Those who opposed this almost a decade ago can now
see the wisdom of our single-minded approach to water security and
infrastructure development.
The recently adopted strategy for Water for Growth and Development, of which
Minister Lindiwe Hendricks is now the custodian, highlighted the reality that
as a country we can no longer afford water losses and therefore it is
imperative that the focus on water conservation and water demand measures must
be strengthened, especially as there is a greater return on investment through
water control and water use efficiency.
Berg Water will contribute to better water security for Cape Town and its
surrounds. In addition to the general improvement of the quality of life, this
project, like all other big infrastructure projects of this nature, will
stimulate sustainable economic growth and contribute to job creation. As we
know, the world is faced with serious challenges arising from the global
financial crisis. In response to this crisis, the joint Presidential Economic
Sector Working Group, comprising government, organised labour and business
agreed on a plan to cushion our country from the devastating impact of this
global crisis.
The key principles underpinning our intervention include, among others,
protection of all activities that strengthen the capacity of the economy to
grow and create jobs and maintaining the planned high levels of investment in
public sector infrastructure as well as securing the basic needs of all the
people of our country.
Infrastructure projects like the Berg Water Project will contribute towards
the achievement of our objective of creating decent work which in the long run
will help our response to the global economic crisis. An analysis of the
achievements of the Berg Water Project done by the Department of Water Affairs
and Forestry indicates that the project succeeded in maximising employment
opportunities and provided skills training for many people who worked on the
project.
This project was executed as part of the Working for Water Project, one of
the well known and successful projects forming part of the Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP). A total of 1 430 persons were employed on the project
and in addition to employment they received accredited training which will help
them in future. What is also encouraging is that the majority of the people who
were employed to work on the project were from the local area. Local suppliers
also benefited from the project as many goods were sourced from them.
As part of the infrastructure required for project implementation 80 new
houses were built in the La Motte Construction Village. This property has now
been handed over to the Stellenbosch Municipality. One of the preconditions of
handover is that the proceeds from the sale of the houses should be used for
the building of further community housing.
The natural beauty of the Berg Water Project lends itself to the development
of opportunities for tourism, recreation and other commercial operations on the
water surface and along the shorelines of the reservoir.
Clearly, Berg Water is a good example of how public infrastructure projects can
be used to contribute meaningfully to poverty eradication and to foster social
empowerment of the people.
I am pleased to hear that the same approach is being used with other dam
building projects. An important project aimed at supplying water to the poorest
in our country must have a name befitting its significance. While this valley
has been named after the French Huguenots, the dam offers the opportunity to
right a historical injustice, whereby the Khoi people who roamed this valley
for thousands of years have been written out of history.
In compliance with the guidelines provided in the Handbook on Geographical
Names the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has undertaken a process of
public participation to identify an appropriate name for this dam.
The Municipality of Stellenbosch has formally expressed support for the
proposed name. I therefore tend to agree that full consideration should be
given to the name Autshumato as the most appropriate name for this significant
and beautiful dam but we shall await the required legal processes to take their
course prior to us formally using this name.
I wish to commend the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the local
municipalities and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority for a job well done. The
pooling of resources ensured better utilisation of available skills, but was
also used as an opportunity to build capacity required to undertake future
projects.
This project has brought an investment in excess of R1,5 billion into the
Western Cape, which if added to the 2010 FIFA World Cup investments, the
transport infrastructure investment and the upgrade of the Cape Town
International Airport, shows a government confident about the future of this
province and building prosperity for all its people.
The inauguration of this dam does not mean a return to wasteful practices in
our use of water. How many times do we, instead of picking up two grains of
rice, open the tap of water to flush them down the drain? How many farmers
still use the wasteful overhead irrigation methods instead of the more
efficient methods available? We need to embark on a campaign to inculcate the
culture of water conservation among our people.
With all of these considerations in mind, it gives me great pleasure to
inaugurate officially the Berg Water Project.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
5 March 2009
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/)
