Water utility boss visits Sweden
Water and Sanitation Minister tackles Zululand's water woes at World Water Week delegation.
LOCAL front runners in the field of water travelled to Stockholm last month to address the importance of ‘bringing water to the people’ in South Africa.
Mhlathuze Water Board Chairperson, Dudu Myeni and Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Monkonyane were part of the SA delegation in celebration of World Water Week.
Attended by over 2 000 international delegates, the Swedish conference, themed ‘Energy and Water’, exposed delegates to various global obstacles and developments.
Myeni said it confirmed that the water challenges in this country are also reflected in other prominent developing countries.
‘The problems of financially under-resourced local governments trying to bring sustainable water, sanitation and energy services to widely spread households in rural areas, or to the rapidly growing informal settlements on the edge of cities are common to all,’ said Myeni.
‘The migration of people from rural areas to the cities in both South East Asia and Africa is happening on an unprecedented scale.
‘In South East Asia it is the sheer number of people while in Africa it is the rate of urbanisation that overwhelms local government.’
South African Professor John Briscoe, who posed as this year’s Stockholm Water Laureate, indicated that solutions for these issues are unique to each country.
For Zululand, it was declared that Mhlathuze Water needs to assist its people by purchasing rainwater harvesting tanks.
The necessity for the utility to be run on sound business lines was also stressed to achieve a solid partnership with local government.
‘As a Board we will also pay more attention to water leaks,’ said Myeni.
‘We are determined to ensure that no drop goes to waste when someone else does not have access to water.’
