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Date : 28/08/2006
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
Title: Hendricks: Media briefing on Water Affairs and Forestry Vision


Minister Hendricks announces her vision for Water Affairs and Forestry

Members of the press
Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for joining us today for this press conference. I have been in office as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry for 90 days and felt that it was an opportune time for me to meet the press, and share with you my understanding of the challenges facing this department and my view of the road ahead.

The issues that face this department are critical for our country and all our citizens, yet people often downplay their importance. I have recently returned from World Water Week, an annual event held in Stockholm, where international experts, academics, civil society organisations, and government gather to discuss and debate water and sanitation issues. In addition to the health and social benefits of having access to clean water, some very strong messages came through at this conference about the link between economic growth and the provision of clean, safe and reliable water with studies showing that investments in water services having a direct linkage to stimulating economic growth.

Providing sanitation services have social, health and environmental benefits, in particular the benefits to girls of school going age who suffer daily indignities by not having adequate sanitation facilities at their schools. There is therefore a strong role that the work of our department has in supporting the goals of Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) and Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).

Since 1994 the African National Congress (ANC) government has prioritised the delivery of these services to the people of South Africa. Our track record speaks for itself and this department’s contribution towards improving the lives of our people is to be commended. Already we have reduced the water backlog by half and reduced the sanitation backlog from 52% to 31%. Currently our national storage of dams sits at 91% thanks to the heavy rainfall we have received in the past months, although some areas have not received rainfall and still have lower levels.

Internationally South Africa is recognised for the excellent work that we are doing both at a policy level and in implementation. My responsibility as the newly appointed Minister is to ensure that we continue along this path of providing universal access, and that we deliver on our promises. I will also be ensuring that we continue to use our experience and capacity to contribute to meeting the Managing Directors-General (MDGs) in Africa and in strengthening institutions such as the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW).

Unless we are facing a drought and water restrictions are imposed, people tend to forget that we are living in a water scarce region and they take our water resources for granted. This lax attitude is irresponsible and as a department we will be giving increasing attention to greater water efficiency across the water cycle; starting from the rivers and streams, all the way through to the storage, cleaning, distribution, and utilisation of water, and ultimately to the treatment of waste water.

There have been many predictions of disaster that countries will run out of water in the next 20 years; however one of the conclusions of the World Water Week conference was that although climate change is a concern to all, there is not necessarily a water crisis facing the world because of environmental factors but rather it is poor management of water resources that would create such a crisis. Action today is therefore necessary so that in 20 years our children and their children will continue to have access to clean, safe and reliable water.

We all have a role to play in becoming more water efficient all spheres of government, as well as industry, agriculture, domestic users at home, and the media.

Challenges facing the department

Since taking office I have identified a number of challenges that need to be addressed:

* That bucket eradication in established settlements is completed by the end of 2007. I believe that we have the capacity within Provincial Government and Municipalities to address this challenge, and together with Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) there is a strong view that this target will be met.

There is very strong political commitment to address the eradication of buckets.

* That not all schools have access to adequate sanitation. This issue is a priority for me as poor sanitation in the school environment has a ripple effect on the lives of learners. We are working with the Department of Education to ensure that sanitation is provided in schools that do not have these facilities or where they are inadequate, as well as seeing that there are systems in place so that the learners are aware of how to maintain the toilets and are taught about hygiene issues. I will personally be taking this up with the premiers to ensure that we can work together to resolve this matter. The same applies with water and sanitation for clinics.

* That we stick to our targets of addressing the backlog of access to water and sanitation. We have plans and are comfortable to meet the 2008 and 2010 targets. A number of actions are being taken to overcome these challenges and to accelerate delivery in a sustainable manner. Sanitation is being targeted by Operation Gijima and a number of engineers have been stationed at municipalities to assist with sanitation delivery. The Department is working with the Department of Provincial and Local Government, via Project Consolidate, to build municipal capacity and provide them with support. To ensure sustainability we also have embarked on an infrastructure asset management programme. * There is a need to ensure capacity in the forestry branch. We will be appointing a new Deputy Director-General (DDG) to head that branch and expect to make an announcement of the person once it has been approved by Cabinet. We will also be looking at transformation of the forestry sector through the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Charter, which should be finalised by the end of this year. There is a great deal of opportunities to expand the forestry sector through new forests particularly in the Eastern Cape.

* There will be a transition of the department from an implementing organisation to being a regulator, supporter and leader of the water, sanitation and forestry sectors. This will require a shift in focus and the department becoming very strong on monitoring, assessment and information issues. To this end the department is involved in a restructuring exercise to shift employees from the department to municipalities, water utilities, and other agencies.

* There needs to be access to greater opportunities for women in the water, sanitation and forestry sectors. Such opportunities would be beyond empowering women in the department and through the provision of water and sanitation, but also looking at women having economic opportunities as a result of our interventions through construction of sanitation and water facilities as well as in forest enterprise development.
* The Water Allocation Reform (WAR) programme aims to redistribute raw water in South Africa, so that we overcome the historical legacy of apartheid water allocations, so that black women and men can have equitable access to water for productive purposes. We must also ensure that there is alignment between the WAR programme and the institutions we are reforming under the National Water Act where we require that suitable institutions be formed, which must incorporate the appropriate community, racial and gender representation. To achieve this institutional reform my Department is overseeing the establishment of Catchments Management Agencies, and Water User Associations.

* Drinking water quality has been raised as an issue of concern around the country. My department is working very closely with municipalities to resolve this matter. There is a model in place in the Free State which has delivered remarkable results and we are in the process of rolling this out to the other provinces. I take this issue very seriously.

Conclusion

To conclude, before my term of office is completed I am committing to:

1) Ensuring that women are firmly in the driving seat in forestry and water, not only as recipients of water, but as empowered owners of their own enterprises, as leaders and as managers. I also commit to the establishment of an organisation for women in the water and sanitation sector to contribute to the empowerment and capacity building of women in this sector.

2) Driving the process of restructuring of the department through the establishment of the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency, the catchments management agencies, and the transfer of forests and water schemes. I hope to leave behind a lean and mean and much smaller department that is clearly focused on its role as sector leader for forestry and water, and its role as regulator and supporter of other institutions in these sectors.

3) Ensuring that the demeaning bucket toilets in established settlements are eradicated and that all schools and clinics have adequate water and sanitation.

4) Ensuring that we have well developed programmes to find the skills that we need in the water and forestry sectors, now and in the future. To this end my department will continue to drive the 2025 capacity building programme for the water sector, working together will all relevant players in the water sector for a coherent, comprehensive and successful programme.

5) Ensuring that the forestry charter is finalised and implementation well under way and that the transformation of this sector benefits the poor and the marginalized in rural areas.

6) Ensuring that my department receives a clean audit.

I believe that the media should be our partner in the delivery of some very important messages to our communities. Forestry, water, and particularly sanitation and hygiene are not necessarily exciting issues for the media; and we have seen that unless there is a crisis or a complaint these issues do not receive a significant amount of attention. The reality is that we are a water stressed region and that lack of universal access creates hygiene problems; and we need to be more aware of the challenges that face our country and take collective responsibility for addressing them to create a better life for our people.

Before closing I would like to remind members of the press that this Friday is the start of Arbor Week, which is held annually from 1 to 7 September. This week is to highlight the importance of trees for the environment, for economic opportunities, and to contribute to sustainable livelihoods. As part of the week we will be encouraging tree planting by schools, communities, and other institutions throughout South Africa. Our launch will take place at Johannesburg Zoo, and will be followed by events in other provinces during the course of the week.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
28 August 2006

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