Minister Pemmy Majodina addresses Ministerial Breakfast Meeting during the Africa Water Week and Cairo Water Week

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Pemmy Majodina, has encouraged her African counterparts to act swiftly on water conservation, saying that postponing measures will be to the detriment of the continent.

The Minister made the remarks at a Ministerial Breakfast Meeting she hosted on this week, during the Africa Water Week and Cairo Water Week conferences held in Egypt this week. The breakfast meeting was attended by a number of African countries, including Namibia, Senegal, Somalia, Egypt and Lesotho.

The meeting was a report back on the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and dialogue on commitments towards the African Union Water Investment Summit in 2025.

Minister Majodina participated in the 9th edition of the Africa Water Week, which took place alongside the Cairo Water Week which kickstarted on 13 October and concluded on yesterday, 17 October 2024.

In her opening remarks at the breakfast meeting, Minister Majodina warned that wars over water will be the result of inaction. "Kofi Anan who in 2001 said, 'Fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict in wars in the future,' and our late statesman, Nelson Mandela, said 'As long as many of our people still live in utter poverty, as long as children still live under plastic covers, as long as many of our people are still without jobs, no South African should rest and wallow in the joy of freedom."

"Surely we don't want to be counted when there's a war on water, so there must be a reference that says we did our part to save the continent from going to war due to lack of access to water," said Minister Majodina.

"In the next AWW, we must step up our game and make sure that all the resolutions taken here are implemented. The time for talking is over," Minister Majodina emphasised.

Minister said that in the next event, she would like to see more women Ministers so that the issues that women face due to lack of water are brought forward.

"The only shortcoming I observed is that I was the only Minister of Water who is a woman. There is a lack of gender representation in this sector to the extent that there was no dedicated section dealing with the struggles that confront women," she noted.

Minister expressed satisfaction with the contribution that the South African delegation made at the AWW and CWW.

"What we (South Africa) brought boldly to the fore is the need for water to be a priority on every panel. We learned a lot, but they also learned a lot from from us. We were not here just to absorb, but also to share," concluded the Minister.

As the road leads to the 2025 AU Water Summit, the Minister concluded by calling on the mobilisation of nations with resources to work together.

The joint conference which was hosted by the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, through the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation came to a close on Thursday, 17 October.

Media enquiries:

Wisane Mavasa Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 060 561 8935
E-mail: [email protected]

Ministry's Spokesperson, Mr Cornelius Monama
Cell: 083 271 8790
E-mail: [email protected]

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