Young innovators win provincial SAYWP competition with water saving initiatives
The Department of Water and Sanitation in Limpopo conducted the South African Youth Water Prize competition on the 24th April 2018 in Seshego. Three learners from Sevengwana Secondary School will be representing the province in the national competition in Pretoria whereby the winners will be jetting off to Stockholm, Sweden to represent South Africa in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP).
The South African Youth Water Prize (SAYWP) competition (held on an annual basis) is one of the science & technology based action projects of the 2020 Vision for Water & Sanitation Education Programme (2020 VFWEP).
The project was launched in 1999 in collaboration with the Stockholm Water Foundation. The competition begins in the provinces and then proceeds to national level. The national winners represent South Africa in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Department’s Limpopo Acting Regional Head, Mr Lesiba Tloubatla congratulated the winning learners and wished them well as they start the journey of becoming future engineers and scientists.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Gladwin Ngobeni, Ntokozo Ngobeni and Thanvy Ntibani of Sevengwana Secondary School in the Mopani District, and their teachers as well on becoming this year’s provincial winners. And we hope that they will go on to make us proud as a province just like the learners from Lebeko High School of Phalaborwa also in Mopani did last year when they went on to win the national competition and represented the country in Sweden. The District of Mopani seems to be having more scientists than the other districts in the province as they seem to be winning these competitions almost every year with their water saving innovations”, said Mr Tloubatla.
The department calls on citizens to continue saving water so that these young generations of innovators can be encouraged by our behaviour towards water. The province’s average dam levels this week are at 76.7%, which show a decrease compared to last year’s 78.3%. Water users in the province are encouraged to play their role in saving water to ensure that we do not run out of water.
The Water Management Area for Limpopo continues to decline compared to last year this time, when dam levels were at 90.2%, compared to 77.6 % at the moment. In the Olifants, it is now at 75.0%, an improvement compared to last year’s 73.8%.
The Polokwane Water Supply Systems is at 99.0 % showing no movement when compared to the same percentage last week. The Luvuvhu Water Supply System has slightly declined, sitting at 95.5 % compared to 99.6% last week. The dam level at Nandoni Dam currently stands at 101, 01% this week which brings relief to communities.
The Ebenezer Dam is at 92.47% this week, whilst Tzaneen Dam has declined to 45.18% from last week’s 45, 45% which is a concern.
Mokolo Dam slightly increased by 1.28% from 87.49% last week to 88.77% this week and De Hoop Dam is currently sitting at 95.12%, crucial for communities that are supplied by the dam.
For more information contact:
DWS Media Liaison Director Sputnik Ratau
Cell: 082 874 2942
