Chairperson, thank you for giving me an extra portfolio by saying "Foreign Affairs".
Hon Chairperson, hon chairperson of the portfolio committee, Minister, Members of Parliament, chief executive officers of public entities, nongovernmental organisations, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure we all acknowledge that water is a very precious resource, without which there would be no development or life itself. Yet, we take it for granted.
There is no doubt that water is the most fundamental and indispensable natural resource necessary to meet the socioeconomic needs of South Africa as a developmental state. As a department, we, therefore, have a responsibility to ensure that we provide water to support all the development objectives our country has set, especially poverty alleviation and rural development.
South Africa remains one of the few countries in the world that regard water as a basic human right to realise development and an improved quality of life for all. We have made significant progress with our backlogs. The number of people without access to water had decreased from 15 million to 3,4 million by April 2006, thereby achieving the eighth Millennium Development Goal.
While acknowledging the existing programmes and successes, we share the same concern with our sister department, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, that the country meets two primary objectives, namely ensuring that the Millennium Developmental Goals are met; and that all South Africans have access to safe drinking water and sanitation services.
In olden times, to have safe drinking water people used their indigenous knowledge to protect the sources of water. What has happened in the rural areas where there are still springs? Are they protected? We are happy that as government we've taken this into consideration. For example, in the Free State there is "Sediba sa mantsupa". We are busy with a programme to try to protect these springs, as they are used for religious purposes.
We, therefore, need to strengthen our support to local government and regulate the water sector to ensure that future generations have water resources to meet growing needs. Within the context of poverty alleviation, which is one of the crucial challenges facing the country, the notion of water for development alludes to the role of water in the alleviation of poverty and to communities' constitutional right to have access to a source of safe and reliable drinking water. The department is deeply concerned about the persistent backlogs in particular parts of the country where communities are vulnerable to waterborne diseases like cholera.
In the past few years, before the global recession set in, our country experienced growth in economic activity. This required adequate water at the right place and of the right quality. On the other hand, these growth and development challenges come at a time when global climate change is negative. We are, therefore, in the process of developing a response strategy which will ensure that the vulnerable poor are protected against the harsh realities of climate change.
Despite the progress that we have made, a significant trend has been increased poverty in women, the extent of which varies from province to province. Migration from the rural to the urban areas has had an impact on infrastructure in our urban areas and has also deepened rural underdevelopment. Our department is, therefore, looking at reformulating policies and restructuring programmes to address such trends.
In order to achieve the social objectives that our country has set, we will restructure our programmes in such a way that they create more jobs and have a real, positive impact on the lives of the poor. Job creation will be central to all our programmes, particularly programmes such as the Working for Water programme, the Water Conservation programme and the Water Allocation Reform programme.
I'm happy: the Working for Water group is up there with the Working for Fire group. Halala. [Applause.] You are very important. When Professor Wangari Maathai came to the country we visited them and we also joined in the jogging. She so admired this programme that she requested we also take this programme to Kenya.
Our department is also looking at mechanisms to create more jobs in the building of infrastructure at local government level by planning well in advance and using very labour-intensive methods. We have already started this initiative in terms of our big infrastructure programmes such as the building of big dams like the De Hoop Dam and others.
Our department has committed to a policy of continual improvement of the management of the infrastructure, guided by best international practice. In response to the President's directive for developmental projects, our department will spend in the region of R30 billion in the next five to eight years to roll out the construction and establishment of mega water resources, targeting more vulnerable areas. Work has begun on 12 dams already and we are satisfied with the progress so far.
Rolling out additional bulk infrastructure and technical advice to municipalities will help reduce the level of noncompliance in sanitation, especially compliance with set standards on sewage treatment plans. Actually, we think this sewage can be used to generate energy and this will then relieve the impact of the load we have in terms of energy.
The department also has an obligation to ensure equitable and sustainable use of water resources and has the responsibility to implement effective compliance, monitoring and enforcement structures to ensure lawful water use. To this effect, the department will be submitting legislation in the not-too-distant future. It is a well-established fact that in the rural and urban areas women and children are central in the collection of water for their households from sources located at long distances. Therefore, we say that as women we are the custodians of water and the environment. [Applause.] This is despite the fact that domestic water is used for processing and preparing food, for drinking, bathing and washing, for irrigating home gardens and watering livestock.
Women know the location, reliability and quality of local water resources. Effective gender mainstreaming is, therefore, our priority, as we recognise that women have a central role to play in development. Our strategy to address this challenge includes the involvement of women and the youth in our programmes. We have organised a week-long youth summit scheduled to start officially next week on 29 June 2009 and to run until 3 July 2009. So, we are inviting all of you. When this comes to your area, please join us. Let us be visible in that we are Members of Parliament; we are leaders; and we are part of the programme. [Applause.] These dates are strategically selected in consultation with the Department of Education to ensure that schooling is not disrupted and that they, therefore, fall within the school holiday period.
The key objectives of the Aqua-Enviro Youth Summit are to align activities and messages with those of the national calendar and to activities planned by the National Youth Development Agency during the month of June, and to integrate youth education programmes within these departments.
Another programme targeting young people is the 2020 Vision for Water and Sanitation Education programme. It is a research-based multicompetition programme aimed at educating learners about the efficient use of water and the protection of water resources, at health and hygiene for a healthy life, and at eradicating invasive alien species. Actually, we are also thinking of partnering with sheltered employment centres on the Working for Water programme in terms of invasive species. This is so that we can work with them. We know that they produce furniture from blue gum trees - as a previous member mentioned - and can make good school desks that last for 100 years. This initiative will produce young knowledgeable ambassadors who will safeguard water and pass on their expertise to future generations.
The resourcing of poor farmers is very important. In this era of economic recession and collusion in price-fixing by big companies resulting in unaffordable food prices, our department found it fitting, in the interests of food security and responsible water usage, to assist communities and emerging poor farmers that own land with resources and capacity-building at the developmental stage. We need to assist them.
This is done on the basis of understanding that the majority of the poor people in South Africa live in rural areas and their livelihood is sustained by subsistence farming, which relies on irrigation schemes. The support programme we introduced provides assistance in the form of grants for bulk-water-supply infrastructure, finance and rainwater harvesting, something we want to step up. This is important. We will have to have education awareness programmes not only on rainwater harvesting, but on harvesting water from the rivers. When it has rained the rivers are flooded, but that water ends up in the ocean. Why don't we try to harvest it?
The long-term objective is to enable them to take charge of their situations by allowing them, firstly, to provide the basic food requirements of their families, and then moving on to become independent and eventually full-scale commercial farmers.
The Moletele community in Limpopo are testimony to that. If replicated nationally, this programme has the potential to reduce poverty substantially. Through this policy, the Moletele community in Limpopo, who successfully reclaimed their land totalling 97 516 hectares, were the beneficiaries of the bulk water infrastructure that was set up at a cost of R26 million. The project, which has partnered with local commercial farmers to produce export quality fruit, resulted in the creation of 198 permanent jobs and 755 seasonal jobs and an annual salary of R25 million for the community. [Applause.] It is important that we give support to the communities when they get their land.
However, we have challenges on issues such as crime. In the past few years, there have been reports of noncompliance, pollution of our rivers, abstraction of water, unauthorised construction of dams, discharge of waste into water resources and pollution incidents. Last year we ran a very successful blitz week, where the former Minister clamped down on the transgressors. This intervention led to successful cases in dealing with noncompliance across the sectors, industries, individual farmers, municipalities and other illegal users. But it is not only those who are polluting, we also must step up and teach our communities not to throw things into the rivers. We are continuing to intensify these programmes as already indicated by Minister Sonjica in her speech.
The creation of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs is a wise move that now brings the crime-fighting capacity of the Green Scorpions and the envisaged blue scorpions in the former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry under one roof. We believe the sharing of expertise will bring more criminals to book and also increase the rate of prosecution. And we encourage communities to be the first to go to the police, because these things happen in their areas. We cannot achieve all of these objectives if the public does not have a full appreciation of the issues at hand.
Our well-known and successful programmes, like Vision 2020, play an important role in educating members of the public by conveying educational key messages. Key messages, among others, are that water is a scarce resource that requires a collective effort to conserve. It is in our interests as a department to play a leadership role in ensuring that we invest in building skills to manage our water.
Our Water for Growth and Development framework, amongst other things, calls for effective and relevant sectoral education and training as a response to the current skills shortage in the water sector.
We will intensify programmes that will attract the youth to water-related careers to ensure the sustainability of both infrastructure and water resources. That means that all of us must encourage communities when they see a tap dripping or a burst pipe not to say that that is the work of the municipality or of the Minister. This is the work of each and every citizen of this country to report these things immediately.
In conclusion, acknowledging that water is life, our department is committed to ensuring that we manage this strategic resource - water - for the benefit of the people of South Africa, and that we can achieve if we work together.
Lastly, I would like to thank Minister Sonjica for her experience gained in the department. Her experience is assisting us as we are building on it. I would like to thank the chairperson of the portfolio committee, a mother who understands these issues of water. No, she doesn't steal. I would like to add my voice to thanking our staff who are working tirelessly - day and night, holiday or not - because they give us support. They are our pillars and our advisers. Thank you. [Applause.]