Chairperson, chairperson of the portfolio committee, hon members, our water partners, NGOs, mayors, councillors and our soldiers up there who work for water and fire, let me echo the words of our President when he reminded us in his state of the nation address that we are a water-scarce country. Therefore, we have to conserve in order to meet our social and economic development needs.
Hon members, we are all aware that there are still people in our country without access to clean water. Over the past few years we have learnt hard lessons in water delivery. The most important one is the need to invest in the building of new infrastructure, in operations and in the maintenance of infrastructure in general.
Given the delivery challenges facing our local sphere of government, we are intensifying our Municipal Support Programme so that the key objective of ensuring that our communities have access to safe drinking water is met. This support is clearly illustrated by the amount of R4,417 billion over the 2010 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, that the department secured from the National Treasury to help municipalities to improve bulk infrastructure. This grant was established to supplement financing for the development of regional bulk water infrastructure and regional bulk sanitation collection.
Since the inception of the programme, we have implemented 107 projects in the nine provinces, of which 11 have been completed and the rest are in progress. When these projects are completed, they will improve access to a further 2,5 million people, and 6 342 job opportunities have been created through this programme.
Hon members, I have already alluded to the delivery challenges facing us as government, particularly the implementation arm of our government, namely local government. Growth in the demand for water for both domestic and economic use is posing serious challenges to our water resources. In our Water for Growth and Development Strategy, we identified key priority programmes that will help us to achieve water security in this country. It is in this context that our department initiated the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme, in which we allocated R83 million to the Cape Town, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela metros. We are grateful that the metros have made a financial commitment as their contribution to this initiative.
This programme is a rapid intervention that seeks to focus on four key areas. These are community water and sanitation infrastructure, water conservation and demand management, waste water infrastructure refurbishment programme and drought intervention. This programme selectively targeted provinces where there were serious challenges relating to drought, cholera, water supply, ageing infrastructure - which we have been mentioning - and a general shortage of water. Under this programme we have identified four priority areas for water conservation and demand management activities. These are the Vaal River system and the metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town.
The upper Vaal River system has been identified as the most appropriate area to address the "illegal" use of water for irrigation purposes. The department is implementing measures to curb this unlawful water use and to speed up monitoring and enforcement effort.
The programme also makes provision for investment in the refurbishment of 20 waste treatment plants. This intervention is meant to address areas where there is the risk of cholera, plants exceeding the effluent quality, units exceeding hydraulic capacity, plants that suffer from mechanical failures or plants that are in areas prone to spillage.
Hon members, it is an indisputable fact that our rivers are fundamental life-giving channels and are almost as important as the precious natural water they carry. If we mess up our rivers, we are in grave danger. These life-bearing channels need to be protected and preserved for our children's future survival. As the Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs, we are best positioned to ensure the protection and preservation of these natural life-sustaining resources. The bringing together of the Water and Environmental Affairs departments under one Ministry is an opportunity for a holistic approach to ensuring the conservation of our natural resources.
As a response to the above-mentioned challenge, during Water Week we launched the Adopt a River programme in Eersterivier in the Western Cape and Umtata River in the Eastern Cape. This programme is aimed at raising awareness in the communities of the importance of protecting our rivers because they are our main source of water. Women will be trained in water resource management skills and there will also be job opportunities for them.
I would like to make a personal appeal to the Members of Parliament here with us today to adopt a river in your province or constituency as a project. The department will make the necessary institutional arrangements and provide co-ordination in consultation with your constituency. If you adopt a river, we are there to assist you. [Applause.]
I am looking forward to working with you. This approach will enable the active participation of communities in our programmes for sustainability. Municipalities, sector partners, Members of Parliament, private sector, community leaders and women will be the key role players of this programme. [Applause.]
Seeing water dripping from open taps and flowing into the streets is a common sight for all of us. This situation is critical and demands the most urgent intervention. The issue of water losses goes way beyond inadequate and badly maintained infrastructure. We lose water through theft, through our own negligence in the way that we deal with this precious commodity in our own homes, and through irresponsible and unchecked industrial use.
The investments we make in infrastructure for water services will not work if we continue to waste water through leakages. The perception exists that water is wasted by those who stay in informal settlements, whereas most of the water is wasted by formal settlements and suburbs. We cannot resolve this problem in isolation; we must tackle this problem holistically and with determination.
We will intensify the existing Water Conservation and Demand Management Programme. During Water Week, we launched a project called War on Leaks in Mogale City Local Municipality. Its aim was to educate water users about water conservation and to support them to repair leaks. We are identifying and training unemployed youth and arming them with plumbing skills to be deployed within communities where they will fix leaking pipes and toilets. The spin-offs here will be water saving, the skills development of our youth and job creation. We intend to swiftly broaden this to other areas, so as to draw in other municipalities, industries and agricultural sectors.
I would like to encourage more partnerships in water conservation, such as the widening of the "adopting a river" concept and other practices aimed at reducing consumption.
Hon members, despite the apparently abundant rains this past summer, it is clear that climate changes are now a reality. Certain parts of our country continue to be threatened by drought and we know that drought is the dreaded partner of poverty. In some areas it is so severe that dams have run completely dry, yields from supplementary boreholes have dropped and springs and wells hold no water whatsoever. The experience of drought over the past few months has challenged our department to look at drought management in a much more serious manner. We are looking at improving drought management, intensifying our monitoring programmes, supporting municipalities and providing rainwater tanks where necessary and possible.
It is an accepted fact that water can act as a stimulant and catalyst for economic development. As stipulated in our Water for Growth and Development Strategy, we continue to prioritise water allocation to resource poor farmers. Thus far we have assisted 360 poorly resourced farmers with bulk water distribution, infrastructure for irrigation and subsidies for operations and maintenance payments. In this financial year, resource-poor farmers will receive more irrigation water-related support from the department. [Applause.] This includes efforts to rationalise water use by the commercial agricultural sector for the purpose of equitable distribution.
A total of R30 million has been set aside for rainwater harvesting and the support of poorly resourced farmers and households, where a household will harvest water to an underground tank. We have such projects. Each household will have an underground tank. I will tell you later how we do it.
Hon members, you will be encouraged to hear that the department has been focusing on women empowerment initiatives, particularly in rural areas. The department has partnered with the Lukhanji municipality to train 80 women as water treatment controllers. This is an area that has been dominated by males and we are determined to explore new frontiers in the empowerment of women. [Applause.]
We also launched a programme in partnership with the Tzaneen Municipality to recognise women who pioneered the rainwater harvesting project, thereby raising awareness around water conservation activities. Given the plight of our women out there, we know that such interventions are a drop in the ocean.
Through the Adopt-a-River Programme we will capacitate women to be able to participate actively in water resource management, and also create job opportunities.
Hon members, the role of the youth in water conservation cannot be underestimated. Our youth programmes, which are located in the ambit of the National Youth Service, are geared to educating and involving our youth in water management and conservation issues.
In 2009, we undertook a pilot project of the National Youth Service Programme in the Alfred Nzo and Letsemeng Municipalities. The programme focused on improving the sustainability and marketability of skills development through accredited training on all water and sanitation projects for unemployed and other targeted groups. A total of 150 young people, 75 from each of the two municipalities, were registered for training in various areas in order to fulfil the requirement of youth registration in the youth programme. A budget of R3 million was made available for this project and each municipality got an allocation of R1,5 million for training. These young people have now graduated and some are participating fully in poverty alleviation programmes like Project Hlasela in the Free State. We intend to expand our efforts to other provinces to optimise the impact of the youth in poverty alleviation.
We are also implementing a successful programme called 2020 Vision, which targets learners from Grade R to 12. It is aimed at educating young people in schools about the conservation of natural resources, which are water and the environment. Through this programme, we also promote careers in water and environment sectors, because we all know that the sectors face the huge challenge of scarce skills.
In conclusion, hon members, I am appealing to you to support us in educating our citizens about water conservation and the protection of our rivers. We will not rest until all South Africans have access to clean and safe water, until we ensure that our resources are protected and until we can guarantee a sustainable water supply for future generations.
To end, I thank my Minister, the acting director-general and her staff, the regional staff who are here, the chairperson of the portfolio committee and all the committee members. You have been very good, you have been enriching us and supporting this government. I would like to thank you all. Adopt a water project! [Applause.]