South Africans called on to conserve water

President Jacob Zuma has called on South Africans to play their part in conserving water.

“Not a drop must be wasted, not a drop must be polluted, and all infrastructure developed must be cared for. Water is life. Let us conserve it, respect it and enjoy it.”

The President was speaking at the launch of the Spring Grove Dam, Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal.

Spring Grove Dam (or Mooi Mngeni Water Scheme) supplies water to six municipalities: the eThekwini Metropolitan, uMgungundlovu District, Msunduzi Local, Ugu Local, Sisonke and iLembe Local Municipalities. It created 960 jobs when it was constructed.

“Due to economic and population growth, urbanisation and other factors, the growth in water demand as well as the drought since 2003 made it necessary for government to build more dams,” said Zuma.

The R1 billion dam is part of government’s infrastructure development plan that is also designed to create jobs, improve the quality of life and boost the economy.

Through the national infrastructure plan, government is building dams, bridges, roads, refurbishing schools, hospitals, ports and airports, and also building power stations to boost electricity supply.

“It is an exciting programme which is changing the face of the country,” said Zuma.

The President has been traversing the country opening infrastructure projects. He recently opened the Grootvlei Power Station in Balfour; unveiled a new fleet of rail automotive wagons that are expected to boost freight logistics in the Eastern Cape, and launched the R71 and R81 roads in Limpopo, among others.

This week, he will visit Umthatha to open energy projects and also inspect progress being made at the Umthatha airport.

Plans are also afoot to open the De Hoop Dam in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, later this month.

Other big projects also include the building of two brand new universities in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape provinces, and also the building of 12 Further Education and Training campuses.

Zuma said he was happy with the progress made in all these projects.

“All these projects contribute to building a better life for our people,” he added. – SAnews.gov.za