National Water Week
20 – 26 March 2017
(which also coincides with World Water Day on the 22 March and National Human Rights Day on the 21 March)
National Water Week
“The National Water Week in South Africa is an awareness week campaign by the Department of Water and Sanitation which serves as a powerful campaign mechanism re-iterating the value of water, the need for sustainable management of this scarce resource and the role water plays in eradicating poverty and under-development in South Africa.
The campaign seeks to continue building on the ongoing awareness creation within the broader South African community. This awareness creation is coupled with the responsibility that every citizen must take in ensuring the integrity of our water resources and its efficient use.
Particularly, the linkages between water services, supply, resource management, and poverty eradication, social and economic development are emphasised in a number of innovative ways. The campaign has been influenced by local needs and international sectoral trends.
As custodians of this awareness week, the Department of Water Affairs encourages all South Africans to focus on the need to restore and preserve the integrity of this most precious resource, water.
South Africans must take responsibility to make sure this scarce resource is managed in an effective and sustainable manner.”
Raising awareness of our dire situation
Water Week serves as a platform to, among other things, make South Africans aware of the fact that our country is among the driest in the world and that water conservation is the responsibility of all within our borders.
The Water Week Campaign is aimed at educating the public about their responsibility in water conservation initiatives, raising awareness around the need to protect and conserve the country’s water resources.
Water Week also has the objective of seeking to re-emphasise the important role water plays in sustaining all forms of life in society and the linkages between water services, water resource management, water quality management and water conservation and water demand management
The department is also encouraged that its partners in the water sector, including civil society organisations, industry, provincial and local government are also hard at work to spread the crucial message of water conservation.
Previous Department of Water & Sanitation Campaigns
2014
CORE MESSAGE: Water is a scarce resource – let us work together to conserve it!
- Water scarcity is a global challenge that effects many regions in the world with Southern Africa being the hardest hit.
- South Africa is a water scarce country, ranked the 30th driest country in the world with annual rainfall levels about half the world average.
- In many parts of the country we have either reached or are fast approaching the point at which all viable freshwater resources will be fully utilised.
- Every South African needs to take immediate measures to preserve and save water so that we do not face a future water crisis.
- We all have a part in conserving water and reducing demand for the good of the country’s resources and to preserve a legacy for future generations.
2015
THEME: Water has no substitute
A substitute is something or someone acting on behalf of another. WATER is a resource that cannot be substituted or replaced.“ WATER has no substitute” to those people and communities that have to walk for kilometers just to get a few liters of WATER daily.
2016
THEME: Water for people – Water by people. Water has no substitute.
The campaign seeks to encourage citizens to conserve water and to ensure sustainability for future supply.
The department is appealing to all South Africans to play a role in conserving and protecting the country’s water resources. This years National Water Week comes at a time when this precious finite resource faces a number of challenges across the country, these include amongst others the drought and general increase in the demand for water. The department is working closely with provinces to address the challenges in the short, medium to long term solutions.
There are a number of activities that are organised by the department’s national and provincial offices. The department is encouraging partners in the water sector, including civil society organisation, industry, provincial and local government who are hard at work to continue to spread the crucial message of water conservation.