Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
12 January 1999
Saturday, 16 January will mark a major milestone in water delivery in South Africa.
Thousands of people will converge on the KwaMhlanga Stadium, KwaNdebele in Mpumalanga, to celebrate the 3 millionth recipient of water in South Africa since 1994. The 3 millionth target is being met with the Kwandebele Moutse Moretele Water Augmentation Project, which will be launched on Saturday. The occasion will also mark the inauguration of the Ikangala Water Board.
The Deputy President, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, will be the Principal Speaker at the function which will be hosted by the Minister of Water Affairs and forestry, Prof Kader Asmal, MP. The former Prime Minister of Japan, His Excellency Mr. Ryuto Hashimoto and the Mpumalanga Premier, Mr. Matthews Phosa will also attend the function. The R185 million Kwandebele Moutse Moretele Water Augmentation Project has been co-funded by a loan from the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund. the establishment of the Ikangala Water Board has been supported by the British Department for International Development.
While it took three years for the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to provide the one millionth person with safe, clean water in May 1997, service delivery has accelerated since then. The 3 millionth target was reached in a little over half the time. This was due to programmes being properly set up and implemented, drawing on lessons from on-going evaluation of Departmental and other projects.
The name of the 3 millionth recipient of water will be announced by Professor Kader Asmal at the function on Saturday
With this function, South Africa's water success will shine more brightly on the international scene, given that during the United Nations Water and Sanitation decade (1981-1990), half the water services infrastructure in the developing world collapsed within the first year of construction.
"We're doing it differently," says Prof Asmal, who says sustainability is ensured through the extensive institutional development framework that the Department has put in place. This mobilises people to participate actively in the management of their water services. The Department empowers local government to operate and manage the water services infrastructure by creating bodies such as water boards to assist where needed. Cost recovery is being put in place on the project as part of this process.
The KwaNdebele Moutse Moretele Water augmentation Project, which benefits approximately 1 million people, provided valuable skills training leading to more than a hundred local jobs on construction. It also trained local entrepreneurs to carry out contracts.
The project is among the 1 020 targeting in total, 4,8 million people all over South Africa from 1994 to date, at a cost, to date, of R2,2 billion. The RDP projects have to date provided a total of 250,000 temporary construction jobs.
On 17 February, Prof Asmal will be announcing the next water services delivery programme. He says of the Saturday's celebration: "It is through the active participation of communities, local and provincial government, the private sector and NGOs, that all this has been possible. We merely pause to salute the 3 millionth recipient, then we press on."
Enquiries:
Dr. Eugene Mokeyane (012) 338 8764 Cell 082 772 2538
Mr. Kalinga Pelpola (012) 338 8789 Cell 082 807 4344