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As part of Mandela Day activities, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), together with its partners, led a successful clean-up of Kaalspruit River in Tembisa in Ekurhuleni on Monday, 18 July 2022.
The clean-up, in line with one of the Department’s flagship campaign, Clear Rivers, encourages individuals, businesses and civil society organisations to roll up their sleeves and be part of the cleaning of water resources such as rivers, streams and wetlands.
During the clean-up in Tembisa, the department was joined by the City of Ekurhuleni, Water Research Commission, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Water Can, Hennops Revival, Coca Cola, ERWAT and Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development amongst other organisations who heeded the call of voluntarism.
Amongst those who joined this noble course was the City of Ekurhuleni Councillor Pusetso Patlele, who led the team that removed solid waste from the river, collected the waste from the landfill site and committed to working with the department to ensure that awareness is raised about the dangers of waste.
Department’s Chief Director responsible for Water Institutions Management, Ms Thoko Sigwaza, warned communities about the dangers such as littering and the impact they have on water resources. She said people should be cautious and ensure that water resources are protected at all times to minimise expenditure that government incurs by cleaning water.
“South Africa is a water scarce country and one of the driest in the world, the need for water security, particularly in the face of global climate change and a multitude of anthropogenic impacts affecting our rivers, calls for a national and unified approach in protection of our rivers, wetlands and broader catchments. In this way all people can benefit from the value-added products of healthy rivers and can have access to clean water for basic human needs”, she said.
Ms Sigwaza added that government has to spend a lot of money purifying the contaminated water due to unfortunate behaviours that need to be changed as a matter of urgency.
“Rivers and all water resources are key assets to the nation, therefore we all have a responsibility to ensure that water in our rivers are clean at all times”, she emphasised.
The clean-up in Tembisa, was one of the many that were held throughout the country in all the regions of the department. The campaign is associated with the spirit of volunteerism which is promoted during the Mandela Month to clean rivers, streams and wetlands.
Issued by the Department of Water & Sanitation
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