Adopt a river and keep it clean and healthy in honour of Madiba’s legacy
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) would like to encourage the people of South Africa to adopt rivers, streams and other watercourses around them and to clean and keep them healthy and free-flowing at all times. Clear and healthy rivers mean a healthy environment and water security for all, especially in a water-scarce, such as South Africa.
As we celebrate Mandela Day on 18 July and the Mandela Month throughout the month of July, DWS calls on the people of this beautiful country to join the Department and the water sector in the Clear Rivers Campaign to protect our water resources and keep them pollution-free at all times. The Clear Rivers Campaign takes place in the month of July as part of promoting volunteerism in the celebration of Mandela Month. The active and responsible citizenry is encouraged across the spectrum where people from all walks of life become participants in promoting healthy rivers.
The need for water security, particularly in the face of global climate change and a multitude of anthropogenic impacts affecting our rivers calls for a unified national approach to protect our rivers, wetlands and broader catchments. The active and responsible citizenry is more than necessary to promote healthy rivers as the relationship between communities and healthy rivers can never be overstated as it is community members who must take care and ensure our rivers are not filtered with litter.
Tata Mandela once said, “we cannot afford to wait for others to stand up for our environment – as nobody stands to lose more than we do. It is our duty to be proactive in the battle to protect Africa’s natural. The right to a healthy environment is a crucial human right because it directly impacts our quality of life”. It is therefore important that we are proactive and take care of our rivers, streams and other water resources and protect the entire environment to live in a safe and healthy world. Communities must protect the rivers and streams around them and prevent their pollution as pollution is a result of bad human behaviour and actions.
Rivers and streams provide many socio-economic benefits for society. In some parts of the country, some rural communities still depend on rivers for their livelihoods. Clean and healthy rivers and streams provide communities with water for human consumption, cooking and washing. The watercourses also provide fish for food and water for agricultural products and livestock. The rivers and streams also provide recreational areas for communities. It is therefore critical to keep them clean and healthy at all times for our own sake and the sake of the environment.
Let us take care of rivers and streams and prevent their pollution to protect our watercourses and prevent flooding. Let us keep our rivers, streams, wetlands and all freshwater ecosystems clean, healthy and free-flowing for water security in our water-scarce country.
Let us always remember that we need rivers, streams and other watercourses more than they need us, as water has no substitute.
For more information:
Sputnik Ratau, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
082 874 2942 or
Themba Khoza
066 301 6962
