Minister Edna Molewa has urged all South African youth to choose careers in water to close the gap in critical skills of the country’s water sector.
The Minister made this call at the Youth Summit on Water and Climate Change award ceremony at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on 06 July.
Organised by the Department’s Transformation unit, this special occasion was well attended by more than 500 people comprising of learners, sponsors, DWA officials as well as some political leaders. The South African musical legends Mam Abigail Kubheka and Mam Dorothy Masuka who urged “everyone to look after our water” also attended. In their message of support and encouragement to the young people, the two challenged youth to make use of opportunities available today and to “consider education as the only solution to overcome shortage of skills in the water sector.”
In her address, Minister Molewa expressed her gratitude to all learners who participated in this year’s Summit and congratulated the 2012 winners who received prizes and certificates. “Well done, we are all proud of you. The creativity and commitment you displayed in the competition should be taken further as you proceed in your careers and lives.” She also hailed African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) youth representatives who came to support the summit to share ideas on water related matters. She urged them to also participate in their countries to reshape the future of Africa’s water sector.
Commenting on the challenges faced by the water sector, Molewa admitted that DWA as the sector leader is facing a huge challenge of technical skills. One of the biggest challenges faced by the water sector is the thinning of the technical skills due to retiring engineers. To close this gap Molewa called on all African youth to prioritise science engineering courses.
“I throw the gauntlet to today’s youth and challenge them to make this problem belong to history.” The Minister challenged everyone to tackle climate change as it is one of the biggest concerns throughout the world today. “Understand the impact of climate change as the country is relying on the young minds to address this challenge.” She said.
In conclusion Molewa praised Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi for proficient leadership in collaboration with sector partners and sister Departments for their excellent work in empowering young people in the country. She also praised the Deputy Minister for running this initiative diligently and performing well.
Presenting various awards to overall winners in different categories of innovative water initiatives by the youth, Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi described all participants of the summit as winners. She congratulated them for spreading the message on the importance of water in their communities.
About 20 learners from nine provinces received bursaries, certificates and trophies during the event.
Partners of the summit - Rand Water, National Youth Development Agency, Sedibeng Water, Departments of Human Settlements and Basic Education as well as MTN hailed DWA for its efforts to educate the youth about the importance of water as a resource and its management.
Deputy Minister presented awards in various competitions and categories. Baswa le Meetse (Youth in Water) competition targets Grade 6 learners who convey health and hygiene messages through the medium of art. These are drama, traditional music, poetry, praise singing and posters.
Another contest was Public Speaking, which targets learners between Grades 10 and 11. It focuses on raising awareness about the impact of Climate Change on water resources. Lastly, there was the South African Youth Water Prize (SAYWP) 2012 won by a Grade 11 learner from KwaZulu-Natal, Mvumikazi Mcelwane. She won the R8000 cash prize, a bursary for a career in the water sector and a laptop. In the Baswa le Meetse competition, Limpopo and Eastern Cape dominated in various categories.
According to the Deputy Minister, all national winning schools will be put into Eco schools three-year programmes (integration of water and environment), which will include impact assessment. The careers promotion will also be one of the key focus areas of their education programme.
An AMCOW youth from Uganda, Betty Aliba thanked DWA for organising the summit. Expressing themselves as H2O (Water Ambassadors), Aliba added that the summit is not only seen as educational programme but a tool to identify challenges that African countries are facing in the water sector. She said that through the African Youth Water Strategy, the youth are committing themselves to work to improve water and sanitation in the continent. She said they are ready to start with their programmes to invite young people in their respective countries to take part in water related projects.
The award ceremony was a culmination of a week-long intensive educational programme for the in-school youth and out of school youth. They engaged in various exciting activities such as excursions, public speaking, debates, national competitions, and consolidating reports of existing youth initiatives/programmes from respective participating countries and drafting an African Youth Strategy on Water and implementation plan.
MTN, one of the sponsors of the youth water summit and has been in partnership with the Department since 2005. It has been sponsoring a fully-fledged computer laboratory for the winning schools of Baswa le Meetse. The lab comprises of 21 working stations, a projector and internet service subsidised for 24 months - all to the value of R1.7 million.
The 2012 Youth Water Summit was held under the theme “Meaningful participation of Africa’s youth in water resource management can contribute to sustainable development.” The summit afforded young people an opportunity to share ideas and co-operate in fostering common solutions to continental water and climate change issues, to get a better understanding of water resource management and participate in different competitions.
Youth urged to follow Water careers
