[ Home ]
[ Speeches & statements ]
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks takes over the chair of South African Development Community (SADC) Water Ministers meeting
6 November 2008
South Africa takes over the chair of SADC Water Ministers meeting
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks has today assumed the chairmanship of the SADC African Minister's meeting on water on behalf of South Africa.
Minister Hendricks took over the reigns from Tanzania at a gathering of the SADC Water Minister's meeting in the Tanzanian city of Mwanza earlier today (6 November 2008). During her address, the minister stressed the need for African ministers of water to show leadership to ensure that citizens are provided with the basic services of access to water and sanitation.
In addition, Hendricks also reminded the gathering of new and critical challenges facing the region including the impending threat posed by climate change on the water resources and urged ministers to put this matter high on the SADC agenda.
2008 was declared the International Year of Sanitation by the United Nations (UNs), and this has seen South Africa engage in a number of high level initiatives to draw attention to issues of sanitation in this country and the continent. Among these was the hosting of the Africa Sanitation Conference in Durban in February and the African Union (AU) heads of State Summit in Sharm el Sheik where water and sanitation issues featured high on the agenda. These meetings produced ground breaking declarations and decisions whose aims are to improve the lives of citizens.
South Africa's determination to show leadership is further underpinned by the submission of a bid to host the 6th World Water Forum in 2012, through the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) the country has already been short-listed along with France and Canada.
As newly appointed chairperson of the council, Minister Hendricks outlined pertinent issues for inclusion in the SADC water agenda going forward, there include:
* The intensification of infrastructure development and water management programmes
* The implementation of programmes to clear alien invasive plant species throughout the SADC region
* Development and adaptation of strategies to deal with the effects of climate change.
South Africa will chair the SADC Water Minister's Council until 2010.
For more information contact:
Linda Page
Tel: 012 336 8250
Cell: 083 460 4482
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
6 November 2008
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (http://www.dwaf.gov.za)