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Date
: 06/11/2006
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
Title: Hendricks: Running Dry documentary film
Speech by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry,
Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks, at the premiere of the documentary film
"Running Dry," Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) Convention Centre, Pretoria
Dr Sibisi, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
CSIR
Jane Seymour
Jim Thebaut
Sir Paul Lever
Distinguished guests
Programme Director
It is indeed an honour for me to address you at the premiere
screening of the documentary "Running Dry."
Southern Africa is a water stressed region. The link between social
and economic progress and the supply of safe drinking water is
clear, and our ability to manage our water resources in support of
the much needed social and economic development required by our
region will determine whether we succeed in bringing prosperity and
creating a better life for our people.
The converse is equally clear, with lack of access to safe drinking
water and sanitation pushing people further into poverty and
denying them a basic human right. How do young children develop
properly when they are not given clean drinking water and run the
risk of disease and illness? How do women and children who live in
squatter camps or shanty towns safely go to the bathroom at night
when their toilet is several hundred metres away, and they run the
risk of assault?
These are obvious questions but the challenge in dealing with these
issues is enormous, and it is imperative that we raise awareness on
what can only been seen as a 'humanitarian water crisis' for
developing countries. This documentary, "Running Dry," aims to
create awareness on the extent of the problem and the very real
challenges faced by impoverished communities in the developing
world. It further helps us to understand the severity of the crisis
and presents a spectrum of solutions available to solve it.
One of the biggest challenges facing governments, particularly in
water stressed regions is how to respond to these needs so that
enough water can be made available from limited resources to meet
the growing requirements, and then to ensure that adequate
infrastructure for water supply and sanitation services is provided
to all citizens from these resources.
For South Africa this response started with our constitution, which
guarantees the right to water for all and is supported by
international agreements, such as the Millennium Development Goals.
From this starting point of recognising provision of water services
as a basic human right we as the relevant government department are
able to put in place the policies, legislation, and institutional
mechanisms so that these critical services are delivered to our
people. We are supported by our President who has given us targets
of achieving universal access to water by 2008 and sanitation by
2010; as well as the Minister of Finance who has allocated
resources towards achieving these targets, as well as towards
creating the bulk infrastructure for building new dams and
pipelines which are required to meet the increasing demand for
water.
This year I was able to attend the Stockholm International Water
Week, and one of the issues being discussed was the concern that we
will start running out of water in 20 years due to increasing
demand and change in weather patterns, as some have predicted. The
message coming through was that if we better manage our water
resources we can avoid such a crisis. It is of course necessary for
us to respond to climate change issues and we look forward to
positive actions from the current discussions that are taking place
in Kenya on the new commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
South Africa has developed a National Water Resource Strategy
(2004), which paints a clear picture of water scarcity in South
Africa, with many of our river catchments areas and regions already
in a situation of stress, with water requirements greater than
local water resources can provide. There are, however, some
undeveloped water resources that can still be utilised in future.
Our water resources will therefore have to be very well managed and
allocated in order to make ends meet in the future.
Our National Water Resource Strategy sets out a number of
management approaches, which include:
1. Water efficiency: If water is not in plentiful supply it is all
the more important that it be used sparingly and efficiently. In
recent years my department has placed particular emphasis on the
elimination of water wastage and the increase of water-use
efficiency by all user sectors. An article in the Sunday Times, 5
November 2006, reports on the problem facing Johannesburg Water,
where it is believed that up to a third of the city's water supply
is being lost through leakages and water theft. This council is not
alone and it is critical that we deal with such issues
urgently.
2. Water for people and development vs. water for the environment:
We need to achieve a fair and sustainable balance between reserving
water for the conservation of aquatic ecosystems on the one hand,
and on the other, having enough water to meet needs of people and
the need for water to support economic development. Water for
nature and the environment is very important, but so is the right
of previously disadvantaged people to expect a better standard of
living in future.
3. Water sources: We must make optimal use of the limited surface
and groundwater resources that are at our disposal. It is envisaged
that the development and exploitation of groundwater resources will
be productively managed in future to make a significant
contribution to improving the water balance in many regions all
over the country. We also need to start looking at new technologies
that can lower the costs and improve the quality of providing water
from the sea and in treatment of wastewater. The desalination of
sea water represents a virtually unlimited water resource, and with
rapid advances in desalination technology, as well as the depletion
of conventional land-based resources, it is an option that we need
to explore further, especially for coastal cities
4. Dams: The further development of surface water resources through
the building of more storage dams is necessary. The intermittent
nature of river flows in the country requires the provision of
storage to make water available at an acceptable level. More
inter-basin or inter-regional transfer schemes will also have to be
provided to get water from places where viable dams can still be
built to where the water is required, mostly in the growing
metropolitan centres.
5. Information: We must ensure that we meet the ongoing need for
good quality water-related information. This includes the long-term
monitoring and assessment of water resources and water requirements
to make certain that the right water resource development and
management decisions can be made when they are needed.
Programme Director, ladies and gentlemen, in implementing our water
policy one of the priorities for my department has been to ensure
that there is a deepening of democracy in the allocation of water;
and for local stakeholders to have a say about matters that impact
upon their lives is an important aspect of a democratic society. To
this end we have started establishing local institutions known as
Catchment Management Agencies which aim to foster more localised
water resource management through participative structures and
processes.
We all know that water is crucial for economic development and
hence Municipalities and Provincial Government need to be aware of
the availability of water within their respective areas in order to
factor that in their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and
provincial growth and development strategies. It is, therefore,
imperative for Provincial and Local Government to play a direct
role in the Catchment Management Agencies that are being
established.
Another important programme that my department is implementing is
Water Allocation Reform (WAR); this programme deals with water use
for equity and economic development purposes, is very dependent on
a co-ordinated approach to ensure that water of good quality and
quantity is always available for our citizens for these purposes.
Apart from dealing with equity in water use among the big water
users, WAR also focuses on helping smaller users and poor people
use water productively to give them the opportunity to be able to
participate in the economy as well. It specifically deals with
water use that goes beyond domestic water provision. The WAR
programme is currently gaining momentum in its rollout across the
country.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned already South Africa has
prioritised delivery of sanitation services, and through "Operation
Gijima" we are accelerating provision of sanitation to rural areas.
The programme is designed to create jobs in the process of
eradicating the bucket latrine system. In addition we are working
with our colleagues in the Department of Education to eliminate the
backlog of sanitation in schools, which has been reduced from 4 300
in September 2004 to 2 118 by March this year.
We are also working very hard to ensure the delivery of water to
our communities, with 15 million more people now having access to
water since 1994; with approximately 1 million more people gaining
access per annum, an amount that will be increased as we move
towards achieving our target of universal access by 2010. In
addition, it is important to note that approximately 19,2 million
of our 22,4 million poor people are currently receiving a basic
allocation of 6 kilolitres per month of their water free of charge.
While specific challenges have been raised around the quantity of
free basic water that is being allocated to people, this policy is
making a significant difference to the lives of the poor.
Drinking water quality is critical to the well-being of all South
Africans and is therefore an important area of focus for my
department. While South Africa is maintaining a very high standard
of water quality provided to people living in the metropolitan and
greater urban areas, it is important that we are open about the
challenges that exist in this area so that we are able to
effectively address them. To this end my department partnered with
the Free State Provincial Government and Local Authorities to pilot
an electronic system to monitor the quality of water; and the
success of this joint effort has resulted in more than 95% of the
authorities in the Free State collecting the data and complying
with quality requirements. With the assistance of the CSIR, this
system is now being rolled out to the rest of the country so that
in a short period, all Water Services Authorities will have an
electronic Drinking Water Quality Management System.
To conclude, while much progress is being made in addressing the
challenges facing the water sector, there is a pressing need to
increase awareness of these and future challenges, specifically in
support of public policy and effective implementation of such
policies.
We believe that the widespread screening of the "Running Dry"
documentary will support this cause and are grateful to the
producer, sponsors and guests for promoting this very important
event.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
6 November 2006
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