East London - The importance of conserving precious water resources was underlined again at an awards ceremony for a group of women from the Eastern Cape.
Water and Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, congratulated over 100 women from across Buffalo City who attended the Adopt-a-River Programme awards at the Victoria show grounds in King Williamstown on Friday.
"These women are patriots who responded to our call to communities and interested stakeholders to partner with us in addressing the challenges facing water resources in the country," said Mabudafhasi.
She said South Africa, like many other countries in Africa, is faced with the problem of dwindling water resources, which if not addressed, could become a serious threat to the continent's inhabitants. She added that existing water resources need to be "managed, protected, used, conserved and developed in a sustainable manner."
"Due to developmental needs, the demand for water is increasing rapidly, while the supply remains the same. We also face challenges like water wastage through leaks, polluted rivers and poor water quality," said Mabudafhasi
The Adopt-a-River campaign is aimed at creating awareness among South Africans of the need to protect and manage the country's water resources.
It is also aimed at changing the lives of the people that work for the campaign, like Thembeka Livi from Potsdam outside King Williamstown, one of the women who received an award.
In addition to being paid for the work she did cleaning up local rivers, she also attended a number of courses, including snakes and snake-bite training, water safety and first aid training.
"As an unemployed single mother of two, the project helped put food on my table. I would encourage other unemployed women to get involved as well," said Livi.
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality mayor, Zukiswa Ncitha, who also attended the ceremony, said the project is of great help to the people of the municipality, especially concerning job creation.
"It's great that local women are seizing the opportunity to be part of a project that has already created nearly 600 new jobs throughout the country," said Ncitha.
