Drakenstein Engineer speaks about water on national television

Drakenstein Municipality Engineer, Waste Services and the President of the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA), Ronald Brown, was recently interviewed by SABC on the 50/50 program.

The main objective of the interview was basically the following:

How can our water resources be protected and what are our responsibilities as humans as this is a scarce natural resource in South Africa

How can the youth partake in protecting our water resources and how can they become actively involve

What is the main emphasis on the South African (driven by the Water Institute of Southern Africa) and Netherlands (driven by the Netherlands Water Partnership) Letter of Intent?

The questions that were raised during this interview were:

1. Where do you feel our priorities in terms of water should be?

Conserving and preserving what we’ve got. Water quality determines the quality of life within a society, but in order to achieve this improve conditions sustainably, the catalytic presence of skills and knowledge is of paramount importance.

2. What do you see as our biggest threat to natural water sources?

People’s understanding of their roles, responsibilities and impacts on the environment. If they know their water cycle and how their actions and practices will impact the environment, processes and others downstream then we have a good foundation for most of our initiatives.

3. What role do you think the youth can play in terms of taking a stand for their constitutional right to fresh (uncontaminated) drinking water?

The Youth is the next generation that will have to take charge of the implementation of the rights as enshrined in the Constitution. The earlier they become involved and exposed to the various aspects that relates to their influences, their prospective roles and ensuing responsibilities the better.

4. What do you think makes this Water Challenge Partnership between South Africa and Holland a unique and a most promising initiative?

The Water Sector is universal and the situations that we are faced with as South Africans are in some, but not all cases unique and this means that there are good grounds for collaboration and we can also provide guidance as much as we can learn from this initiative.