Programme director
Honourable mayor
Honourable councillors
Honourable Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environment
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Goeie môre almal, good morning all, molweni!
Baie baie dankie dat julle my hieruit genooi en dat ek hier saam met julle kan wees om vandag te vier en ook om water week nogal hier in Bitterfontein af te sluit. Ek voel baie gelukkig hieroor. I am here today after visiting various parts of the country as part of Water Week celebrations. I have spent this week also reflecting on what more we can do together to make sure that we give access to water to more and more of our poor people, whilst reminding everyone that we all have a collective responsibility not to waste water. Soos julle hier se, “kinders moet nie in die water mors nie ou mense moet dit drink”, meaning that we should not dirty our rivers by throwing anything in there with the hope that it will flow away.
This water week has strengthened my resolve that we must end poverty faster by giving access to water for household use, but also that there should be enough water to enable “one household, one garden”. I want us to move faster to making sure that we contribute to the improvement of the health of our people by making sure that the water is clean, not “brak”, that clinics, schools and hospitals have water, but most importantly that all of you are trained to make sure that we all know what to do if the water is not good enough to drink.
I have come here to witness how we can use technology to make water safer to drink by what is called desalination. We do this as a contribution by the water sector to give hope to our people in the rural and far flung areas such as yourselves as we believe that water can help you to overcome despair and improve the quality of your life.
I have learnt that the area is named after the saline fountain who’s water did not taste so good, therefore the name Bitterfontein on the one side. On the other side the water tastes better and the area was then called Nuwerus (new rest). Now that the water is improving in the area, I think “die fontein is nie meer bitter nie”.
This Water Week has proven to me that water is and must continue to be a catalyst to bring decent work and livelihoods to our people. This desalination plant is not only here to make sure that the quality of your water is better, it is here to make sure that as we use technology, we also create more jobs for our people. That is why I am happy to be part of this important occasion as we supply potable water to this community.
Every year as the Department of Water Affairs, we have what is called Water Week to remind the country that we must pay attention to this scarce resource and make sure that future generations also have enough water. We also come to areas like Bitterfontein to say that as we ask South Africans to conserve water, we improve the quality of the water that we supply. We do so as our government has committed us to five priority areas, rural development being one of them. We therefore need to we improve the quality of water not only for me in Cape Town but for you too in the area in which you live.
Ladies and gentlemen, my plea is that you now take the responsibility of keeping the water clean, that no one wastes the water and that we work with the municipality to ensure that our water is taken care of. In order to do that, the municipality Honourable Mayor, there should be water committees in the community to teach people how to conserve water, make sure that there is no illegal connections, we don’t damage our water infrastructure, also that when there are problems of unsafe drinking water, there will be people to educate the community on what to do. When these committees raise problems they get from the community on water issues, let’s address them and not see it as parties fighting amongst themselves. Water needs to be depoliticised. Water should unite us, like it is in church when we use water to baptise and bless.
I am also excited to be in an area that has the most beautiful flowers and unique biodiversity. Also, this is the only area in the world where they mine the green granite. As the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs and as we celebrate Water Week, we are celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity too. We can thus in Bitterfontein and surrounding areas use water to improve the lives of people here, but also make sure that you benefit from the other natural resource, your biodiversity and green granite to create decent jobs for the people here. This is what we mean we speak of creating green jobs.
The launch of the Bitterfontein Desalination Plant is an important occasion as it enables us to supply potable water to communities as part of our commitment to reach universal access by 2014 and halve poverty by 2015. This is an area where surface water is scarce and the optimisation of groundwater usage and exploration for the potential of other sources is not only important but critical to the improvement of the lives of people in this area. We are here today to celebrate another outstanding performance from the district municipality. Briefly looking back at the history of this plant, in 1989 the department built a water supply scheme at Bitterfontein, which desalinate brackish water for potable purposes. This scheme supplied water to the areas of Bitterfontein and Nuwerus.
Water supplied from the scheme is mainly for use at all households as a free basic service. These households are categorised as poor or indigent. In 2003 the water supply scheme was augmented to supply an additional 300 households in the communities of Rietpoort, Stofkraal and Molsvlei. Since these communities had no access to potable water, their only sources of water was from natural springs, boreholes and wells which mostly dried up during the drought.
The provision of potable water to these communities from the existing boreholes and desalination plant at Bitterfontein placed tremendous pressure on the existing boreholes and the desalination plant. At that stage it was proposed that the allocated drought relief funds be used for the extension and upgrading of the total water supply system for the whole area. The scheme was then still owned by the Department of Water Affairs and forestry.
Since the establishment of the scheme the West Coast District Municipality was contracted to manage the scheme on behalf of the department. On 1 July 2004, the powers and responsibilities of control, operation, administration and maintenance of all works associated with Bitterfontein Water Supply Scheme were delegated to West Coast District Municipality in terms of Section 73(1) (a) of the Water Services Act. During the drought period the municipality in partnership with Department of Water Affairs (DWA) explored various options to address the water shortage in these areas. From this exercise, the best practical option was to upgrade and extend the existing scheme.
Honourable mayor and councillors, one of the aims of our efforts with this upgrade of the Bitterfontein Desalination Plant is the cleaning of borehole water and the consistent supply of water and sanitation to households. We needed to ensure better water quality and improved infrastructure for the continued growth and development of Bitterfontein and surrounding areas. The contribution of water to development will however not happen on its own, it requires concrete efforts by communities working with the private sector and government to identify the opportunities to save and to also to use water efficiently
The State President Jacob Zuma pronounced during the State of the Nation Address in February that savings of up 50 percent should be achieved by 2014 through an efficient water conservation and demand programme. This is a goal we should work to meet. You know that “Working together, we can save more water; working together we can let more people get more water”. Tesame kan ons meer doen!
During the Provincial Water Summit in June 2008, the department awarded water services authorities with drinking water quality awards that displayed excellent drinking water quality management practices. The West Coast District Municipality was one of the water services authorities who received these top awards. Well done again on your outstanding achievements!
Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, as we come to the end of Water Week, I ask that we do not stop today to keep our rivers clean. We must adopt them so that they stay clean for future generations; that we don’t stop the work towards giving access to more and more of our people to clean, safe drinking water. We need to afford water the central role in changing the lives of people, especially in the rural areas.
As I declare this plant officially open, let me say that the government is committed to creating a better life for our people. The people of Bitterfontein and surrounding areas, the people on the West Coast as a whole will not be left behind as we strive towards a clean and adequate water supply for all. Today we see real results and tangible evidence arising from that commitment. Let us all go out and work together to save more water.
Thank you very much, Baie Dankie
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs
19 March 2010
