water

Stakeholders in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) have commended Water for People for holding a stakeholder review forum which creates deeper insight into nonprofit activity, fund distribution and impact.

Regional irrigation and water development officer for Southern Region, Phideria Moyo, says the forum is important as it will help in reviewing what is being done in the project areas as well as map the way forward on meeting the set target dates.

Oxfam, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has announced its upcoming developmental strategies to ensure good health, water, sanitation and better livelihood among the needy and vulnerable in Africa.

Oxfam West African Regional Director, Aboubacry Tall, points out that the organisation has plans to ensure that the poor and needy had access to food, clothing, shelter, potable water, good health care and education in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

The Japanese ambassador in Mozambique, Akira Mizutani, and representatives of the three NGOs - Fondazione Terre des Hommes, of Italy, OIKOS - Cooperation and Development of Portugal, and the Mozambican organisation Kulima - signed the financing agreements in Maputo.

85 337 dollars will be invested in a project implemented by Fondazione Terre des Hommes in Boane district, in Maputo province, which seeks to improve education, water supply and sanitation in four schools.

Water and sanitation minister, Nomvula Mokonyane's office urges Rand Water to work closer and to communicate better with communities regarding water supply interruptions and other challenges.

Speaking at a meeting with the board, Mokonyane reminds the board that “[as a member]… you have a responsibility towards the communities you serve."

The board had to close the gap between their commitment to communities and what was eventually delivered, it also had to look at their current way of doing things, and how it could possibly be changed for positive results.

A nationwide diarrhoea outbreak attributed to rotavirus claims the lives of nearly 40 young children in Swaziland during the past month and highlights the need for better sanitation and clean water in schools and homes.
 
Government social welfare officer in Manzini, Thab’sile Ndlovu, states that, “The link between poor water quality and child mortality is not a theoretical matter. We can see in the admissions rooms of hospitals how widespread the problem is.”
 

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says South Africa’s intention to go ahead with shale gas exploration and more coal mining could have a devastating effect on South Africa's water supply.

In a press statement, WWF fresh water programme senior manager, Christine Colvin, states that critical water production areas and water systems are being threatened by coal mining.

Colvin adds: "The explosion of shale gas exploration in the Karoo will similarly disrupt the social fabric of this fragile area and we do not have clarity on how negative impacts will be dealt with."

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says that government is not protecting water as a basic human right.

In its report on water and sanitation in South Africa, SAHRC points out that, "...water is viewed mainly as an economic good or commodity by government departments and the private sector."

The commission argues that the result is that most of South Africa's water is used by business, especially agribusiness, mining, and other industries, at a relatively lower cost per kilolitre than poor households.

Thyolo Active Youth Organisation has donated a bore hole to Nachipere Primary School that has stayed over a year and half without portable water.

The donation follow a complaint by the head teacher, Foster Ligomeka, for the school that pupils at the school have been using rainwater and sand to clean cups after eating porridge.

Ligomeka explains that, "In the absence of water the pupils were going for whatever works. Some cleaned their cups with sand while others used rainwater and each child has to bring their drinking water in a bottle."

Millions of people in Southern Africa still lack access to latrines and clean drinking water, according to WaterAid.

In its latest report titled ‘In From Promise to Reality’, the organisation states that the majority of southern Africans are living in an "unrelenting struggle against sanitation and water poverty."