Water activists launch WaterCAN initiative at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden
Conservationists and activists come together at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden to launch a water testing initiative.
When walking into the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, one of the first signs the community sees is ‘Water is life’, this resonated with the launch of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) initiative Water Community Action Network (WaterCAN) on September 19 at the waterfall.
Spearheading the initiative, Dr Ferrial Adams spoke about the importance of civilian science and community members banding together and solving water and service delivery issues themselves instead of waiting on the government to do something.
“We are sending out water testing kits across South Africa to help create a database whereby we can start implementing solutions through our community networks,” explained Adams.
The WaterCAN team explained that they will be collaborating with the botanical garden and South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to ensure that the SANBI facilities conduct a water test every month.
“We do have struggles with factors upstream from the waterfall like sewage leaks that impact the quality of the water in our river,” added Xolelwa Hlalu from the botanical garden, further stating that with the help of her team, the community groups and municipalities in the area they are fortunate to detect and correct any sewage issues before its too late.
Andrew Hanky from SANBI also noted that they do daily water readings where they check the oxygen levels in the water to ascertain whether there is contamination upstream.
During the launch, attendees were encouraged to see how each test kit was used and how to collect water samples. The aim of this was to encourage everyday community members by showing them how simple conducting a water quality test truly is.
“We drink tap water, but we don’t know what the quality of the water is. So when we get sick, who do we hold accountable?” exclaimed WaterCAN team member Julius Kleynhans, stating that he believes everyone in South Africa should have the right to know what quality water they are being supplied.
The launch ended off with an emphasis on the fact that without water, life ceases to exist.
“South Africans are resilient, we can endure load-shedding stages that have us living without electricity more so than with it, but we can not survive without water. Research predicts that South Africa will not have enough drinking water by 2025,” concluded Adams.
