Pretoria - Government has appealed to communities to save water and help protect the country’s infrastructure at all times.
“As a country we must endeavour to reduce our water consumption as best we can. The [practices] of recycling and reuse must be undertaken by all, including big consumers and the communities where they live,” Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said on Thursday.
She was speaking on behalf of the Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster, which gave a progress report on its priority programmes in Pretoria on Thursday.
“South Africa needs to save water as a life resource through conservation and water demand management,” said Minister Motshekga.
Efforts to save water include the “War on Leaks” intervention, which has recently been conducted in Mahikeng.
The call to save water follows the recent supply interruptions in Gauteng.
Through a combination of various events, water supply to parts of Ekurhuleni, the West Rand, Joburg and Tshwane was affected.
The Rand Water Board reported that the main cause of the interruptions was ageing infrastructure, but this was exacerbated by vandalism as well as a power supply problem.
It began when a technical fault led to a loss of power at Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station, which supplies water to more than 40 percent of Joburg.
A back-up transformer to support the facility was faulty and did not operate as expected, causing reservoirs in the province to run low.
The theft of electrical cables for water pumps at reservoirs also made things worse.
“We are also pleading with our communities to appreciate the infrastructure in place for their collective benefit,” Minister Motshekga said. – SAnews.gov.za
