BREYTEN – The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) central operations cluster, in cooperation with members of the Community Workers’ Programme and Msukaligwa Local Municipality, cleaned the eye of the Vaal on July 19.

Mr Nduduzo Ndlovu, the spokesman for DWS, said the clean-up was attended by Ms Agnes Mnisi, the acting mayor of Msukaligwa Local Municipality, and Mr Charlie Sithole, the councillor for ward 14.

According to Mr Ndlovu, this formed part of the department’s clear rivers campaign and the 67 minutes in celebration of Mandela Day.

The annual clear rivers campaign serves as a call to action for ordinary members of the public to play an active role in the cleaning of water resources.

Mr Sithole began the clean-up by welcoming all members to his ward.

Thereafter, he expressed gratitude to the department for choosing his ward for this initiative.

Mr Philane Kunene, the deputy director for corporate services in the DWS, said through the campaign the department is trying to instill the culture of volunteerism in the preservation of much-needed water resources.

He thanked all participants who volunteered their time to be part of the initiative.

We believe that through creating awareness in local communities such as the one of Breyten, we are encouraging them to play a key role in protecting water resources,” Mr Kunene said.

Ms Mnisi was pleased that DWS chose Msukaligwa Local Municipality to host this outreach.

She highlighted that the municipality is honoured to be linked with some of the key water resources in the country, including the Komati River, the Olifants River and the eye of the Vaal.

“I would like to urge the department that next time they commemorate this initiative, they should integrate all these strategic water resources within our municipality,” she said.

All relevant Covid-19 regulations and protocols were observed.