SA attends meeting of SADC water ministers

Friday, July 3, 2015

Pretoria - Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Mokonyane, will today attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Water Ministers Meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The ministers, who represent 15 member states of SADC, will be reviewing the progress on the implementation of the third phase of the Regional Strategic Action Plan on Integrated Water Resources Management and Development (RSAP III) 2011 - 2015.

The ministers are also expected to provide strategic and political guidance on the fourth phase of the SADC Water Programme (RSAP IV), which is currently under development.

Several meetings have been held among senior government officials representing the 15 member states of SADC in preparation of the meeting of ministers.

South Africa has over the years promoted cooperation within SADC on the sustainable management of water resources in the region and their use to unlock both social and economic development.

Water is an economic and social asset that must be harvested and utilised to provide adequate water supply, sanitation, energy, food security and industrial and infrastructure development across SADC.

In this regard, the country has several bi-lateral agreements with neighbouring states and SADC member states on water management, security and provision.

This includes the recently signed agreement with Zimbabwe during the State Visit to South Africa by Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe in April 2015.

The minister will be accompanied by senior officials of the Department of Water and Sanitation, some of whom have been engaged in the pre-negotiations in preparation for the Ministers meeting. – SAnews.gov.za