National Water Week - 2004
"Water washing away poverty" is this year's slogan for National Water Week,
which will take place from 22-28 March. The 2004 Water Week is especially
significant as it coincides with Government's 10 years of democracy celebrations
and International Water Day on 22 March.
The focus of National Water Week is on raising awareness among all South
Africans of the responsibility they have to use water wisely and sparingly. This
year we also celebrate the success of Government's water delivery programme and
management during the first decade of democracy. This is a particularly
important achievement given the backlog inherited in 1994.
A decade ago, around 14 million people did not have access to safe drinking
water and some 21 million people did not have access to a basic level of
sanitation.
In the ten years since democracy, the Department of Water and Sanitation
has provided almost 10 million South Africans with access to clean water. South
Africa has more than achieved the rate of delivery required to meet the
millennium targets set by the Heads of State at the United Nations in 2000. At
that meeting President Thabo Mbeki together with 100 other Heads of State,
committed to halving the proportion of people lacking safe water in the world by
2015.
Although the goal is to eradicate the backlog of access to water (5 million) and
adequate sanitation (16 million) by 2008 and 2010 respectively, this is not
enough for the Government or the Department. Our vision for the next ten years
is to move people up the Water Ladder, from communal taps to the convenience and
dignity of water in people's own yards with each household having its own toilet
and even, in time hot and cold running water inside their homes.
The provision of access to water, particularly for rural communities is about
improving their lives beyond mere subsistence. Apart from avoiding the hardship
of carting water over long distances there are also other benefits that result
directly from having easy access to clean water, improved hygiene and better
sanitation, such as health benefits from reduced transmission of water borne and
other diseases.
The Department has spearheaded the Free Basic Water Policy which, when
implemented by Local Government, ensures households receive up to 6 000 litres
of clean water every month at no cost. Many South Africans, even though they may
have access to clean water, cannot afford to pay for a service that is so
essential to their health and basic needs. Already more than 27,6 million people
are benefiting from the policy.
The "blueprint for survival", the National Water Resource Strategy to be
launched during 2004 will ensure that the objectives of the Constitution and the
Water Act are met. South Africa is a water-stressed country and this strategy
describes the ways in which the country's water resources will be protected,
used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled.
Major events taking place during National Water Week include the Women in Water
Awards on 19 March, the Johannesburg Water Festival on 23 March and the Baswa le
Meetse (Youth in Water) Awards on 26 March.
The Women in Water Awards honours both professional and community-based women
who are involved in water management. It aims to recognise the key role that
women play in poverty eradication, education and sustainable development in both
the urban and rural context.
Eskom Generation Division is the sole corporate sponsor for Women in Water 2004.
Eskom is a major strategic water user in South Africa and is committed to
advancing the role women play in the water sector.
The Baswa le Meetse awards are presented to schoolchildren who produce and
convey inspiring messages to the public about water and sanitation through
theatre and arts (drama, cultural music, poems, praise-singing and drawing).
Ronnie Kasrils, MP
Water and Sanitation
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