Official opening Address by the Premier of Limpopo, Ambassador Chupu Mathabatha on the occasion of the Provincial Water and Sanitation Summit, held at Karibu Lodge, Tzaneen
Programme Director;
Members of the Executive Council;
Executive Mayors and Mayors of our local and district municipalities;
Acting Director General; Dr. Pheme;
Representatives of the Lepelle-Northern Water;
Leaders of Parastatals present;
Members of the Media;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Let me first and foremost thank our host Mayor, Councillor Mmetle for welcoming us to this beautiful and ever green town of Tzaneen.
Indeed we feel truly at home and welcome.
The convening of this summit breath life to the commitment we have made during the State of the Province Address that we would spare neither strength nor effort until we have resolved the water challenges that we face as a province.
I trust that most of you will remember that we said during the State of the Province Address that (we) have appointed a Provincial Multi-Stakeholder Task Team to help develop a medium-term Water Resources and Services Strategy.
This strategy, as I said in February, will help with the planning, management and allocation of water to support both economic social and environmental needs of our province.
Underpinning this Strategy will be a mechanism for bulk infrastructure projects that support mining and commercial agriculture, provision of water to households, management of waste water treatment works and a sustainable availability of water.
The work of this Multi-stakeholder Task Team should be presented in this summit.
You will also remember that during the Siyahlola visit last year in Greater Giyani Local Municipality, the President launched water reticulation plant to the value of R77. 4 Million.
This is to the benefit of no less than 55 villages which now have water. This project is expected to respond to water supply challenges the people of Giyani have experienced for some time now.
Our message remains that water, which is a rare and yet most basic commodity, belongs to the people as a whole.
In this regard, we must be forever reminded that water must be used in the interest of both the current and the future generations.
We are delighted by the interest and support we have received from the National Department of water, both in the organisation of this summit but also in resolving our water challenges in general.
In this summit, we have brought together various role players in the water and sanitation sectors to respond to the already identified challenges relating to water and sanitation in our province.
This summit is preceded by similar engagements which took place at a district level organised by our district municipalities.
The district water summits were followed by provincial sector summits which focused on mining and agriculture in the context of water need and usage.
The summits outlined above were designed to create a platform for government to, amongst others, derive inputs from the respective stakeholders. Accordingly, these inputs have informed the agenda and the content for this provincial summit.
It is important to note that this summit is not the first of this kind in this province.
In 2005 the Provincial Government hosted the Limpopo Water Summit where the then Premier, Ambassador Sello Moloto remarked that:
“You will know that, apart from water being essential in sustaining quality livelihoods in families, water also plays a catalyst role in facilitating local economic development, fighting poverty and averting the outbreaks of controllable diseases such as cholera”
Indeed the provision of water is an integral part of our strategy to ensure economic development and poverty eradication.
In 2011 the provincial government also hosted the Water for Economic Development Conference. The conference in question received a keynote address from the then Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Honourable Edna Molewa.
In her address, Minister Molewa noted the water allocation challenges and advised the conference to look at ways in which water could be reallocated from sectors that are not fully utilising their allocations to those sectors that are truly in need of such water resources.
She went further to acknowledge that the water regime as it was, necessitated a review of both the legislative framework governing water resources.
The good thing is that since the 2011 Water Conference we have made inspiring progress in our attempts to secure sufficient water resources for both domestic and commercial use.
But as we all know, ours is a water scarce country.
The opening of De Hoop Dam in March last year, the launch of the Nandoni Bulk Water Supply System and the launch of Giyani water treatment work is evidence of the work massive progress that has taken place since 2011.
This has certainly increased the number of households in the province that have access to clean drinkable water.
But I think the real challenge which I believe this summit will surely speak to is the need to balance the interest of domestic water consumption and consumption for commercial purposes.
It will not assist us to put all the focus on water for social use to the neglect of the commercial need, and vice a versa.
We need a proper balancing act. Programme Director;
The programme for this summit has been structured in such a way that it would certainly allow participants to engage on important issues such as
- the provision of bulk water,
- the provision of water and sanitation to households,
- waste water treatment works and
- the usage of water to support economic development.
At the end of the day, this summit would have betrayed its purpose if it does not come up with practical, workable and lasting solutions to our water supply challenges.
We expect nothing less than that. Programme Director;
As it is indicated in your programmes, my main duty for the day is to present to you a leader who requires no introduction at all.
May I present you to your Minister of Water and Sanitation, my sister and colleague..Mme Nomvula Mokonyane.
