Activist commemorates water week with heavy heart
“It doesn’t seem like there was a reason for a celebration in our country this year.”
With taps running dry in most Tshwane households, water activist Tarryn Johnston says there is no need for the country, especially the metro or residents to celebrate World Water Week.
Johnston said dams are full yet residents’ taps continue to run dry.
“It doesn’t seem like there was a reason for a celebration in our country this year. Dams are full but taps run dry, rivers are being pumped full of untreated, unprocessed sewage from treatment plants due to load-shedding or cable theft, and we are numb, numb and mum. A deadly concoction of apathy and disconnection,” she said.
Johnston said the water quality in the rivers played a very critical part in the water cycle as the water running through streams and rivers is what people eventually consume.
“World Water Day falls the day after Human Rights Day with water being one of the most basic and fundamental human rights with our beautiful South African constitution affording these same rights, not only to our people, but also to our animals and our environment,” the water activist added.
“What we are faced with ultimately is an all-round violation coupled with inaction, gross apathy, massive disappointment, severe lack of governance. Enforcement an inactive word, whilst clean water is just a revolution away.”
Hennops Revival is one of the organisations that are making a notable difference in South Africa and the reasons for the existence of such movements as well as their importance are multiple.
Since its inception, Hennops Revival has picked up more than 2.5 million kilograms of trash from the river in Centurion alone, equating to more than 120 000 bags, countless felled trees as well as discarded furniture, clothing and carpets to name a few.
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