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20 March 2009

Honourable President of Africa Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW)
Honourable Ministers
The Ambassador of South Africa in Turkey
The Honourable President and Governors of the World Water Council
The Chairman of United Nation's Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB)
The Executive Secretary of the fifth World Water Forum (WWF)
Representative of the Government of Turkey
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

A very good evening to you

It has been a very long day and I am sure that the entertainment which you have already enjoyed has helped you to relax and stimulate you for the work we all have to do in dealing with the global water challenges.

In greeting you this evening I also bring you very warm greetings from the government of the Republic South Africa. It is certainly both a pleasure and a privilege for me to use this opportunity to welcome all of you to this happy hour occasion. As South Africa, we are extremely honoured to host you. I do hope that you have enjoyed the entertainment which has been provided which is really just a foretaste of what you will experience when you visit our beautiful country and I am sure that you all do intend to visit!!

On behalf of the people of the Republic of South Africa, I am also proud to inform you that South Africa is one of two candidates bidding for and being considered to host the sixth World Water Forum in 2012 in the city of Durban. We have come a long way in this process and this is the moment where we say to all of you, your support for us to host this event will be highly appreciated.

The sixth World Water Forum is certainly presents an exciting opportunity for my government, our Parliament and local government, civil society, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and industry in South Africa to jointly contribute to the global debate and call to action on water issues. While the forum will also provide us with an opportunity to showcase our very innovative services, products and activities in relation to water issues it will also provide you with the opportunity of learning from our experiences.

South Africa has very often been cited as an example of how to do things the right way in terms of our constitution and the legislation or laws which guarantee basic water supply and sanitation, protect our water based ecosystems and allow people to have a say in how the resource is managed and used at basin level through the establishment of catchment management agencies. This would be your opportunity to learn from us but also very importantly, an opportunity for you to share your experiences and for us all to work together in formulating global solutions to the water and sanitation challenges, so that we are able to make a major paradigm shift from debating to implementing solutions with regard to the global water issues.

I do not intend to take much more of your time this evening, save to use this opportunity to reiterate that South Africans are very eagerly waiting to welcome you in 2012 in Durban. I will be relying on South Africans who are here at the forum not only to participate and contribute to the debates taking place, but also to demonstrate to you that, indeed, South Africa and host city Durban, is the best candidate to host the sixth World Water Forum. Furthermore, should we be successful in this bid, it will be the first time that the event is hosted in the southern hemisphere.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us enjoy ourselves and hope to meet each other again in Durban and if I can conclude in a typically South African way,
Viva South Africa viva;
Viva Africa viva;
Viva World Water Forum 2012 viva

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
20 March 2009
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (http://www.dwaf.gov.za/)