War on Leaks goes mainstream

The War on Leaks Programme, spearheaded by the Department of Water and Sanitation, is reaching out to all corners of South Africa targeting urban and rural youth, as well as males and females across racial lines.

This department has since seen and supported the deliberate, progressive and courageous cooperation between the nine provincial administrations, Rand Water, Energy and Water Sector Training Authority (EWSETA), water boards, water services authorities, training institutions and the Strategic Water Partners Network

(SWPN).

The trainees themselves have developed a good understanding of the programme and are now actively involved in the outreach activities of War on Leaks by telling their personal stories and encouraging each other to exercise patience and work hard to achieve the intended objectives of the programme.

The War on Leaks Programme is set to be a major catalyst in the training of youth that will serve the country at the forefront of our strategy to conserve water. This programme, while conserving water, will also remain the muscle behind our efforts to create decent employment into the future and to improve the general standard of life in our country.

Since the programme launched in August last year, the department has held very close interactive sessions with various stakeholders. During the last two workshops held in July and October this year, the department and its partners in the programme were able to take stock of what has happened since the launch of the first phase which consisted of the intake of 3000 trainees.

The two sessions reflected vividly on the road traversed in the implementation of the first phase, including successes and challenges that were identified.

The successes included commitment into the programme by national stakeholders, support by provinces and district municipalities, strengthening of the programme governance structures, quality assurance of the training material and the nationwide footprint of the project.

On the one hand, the department mitigated successfully challenges such as poor communication, delayed contracting, misplacement of trainees, delayed stipend payments, long distances travelled, facilities not conducive for training, delayed delivery of toolkits and personal protective equipment and poor monitoring of the project.

The identification of these weaknesses helped us to learn from each other as all stakeholders were now prepared to put shoulders to the wheel.

The engagement with trainees in their facilities and the direct involvement of the departmental regional offices amicably resolved the above challenges based on experiences shared by provinces in the two workshops.

This quality and level of engagements assisted in the preparation for the next intake of 7000 trainees. It is my honest view that as we move forward, the successes we have made up to this point, have far exceeded the challenges experienced in the implementation of the first phase.

We are moving confidently from the first phase into the second phase armed with experiences, the will to work together and personnel from all our water sector partners.

The second phase of the 7000 intake will be announced at Osizweni Community Hall, Newcastle Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

These trainees have been selected and contracted and are now being prepared with theory to understand what to expect as the programme unfolds. The facilities selected in this phase are far better than the facilities used before and these are based on the training modules that will be offered.

The focus of this recruitment has been based on the needs of the water services authorities in the country. As these trainees settle in the training facilities to take the first modules, the on-the-job placements for all will be negotiated so there is no time vacuum in between training sessions.

This event will not be the repeat of the national launch, which took place in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in the Eastern Cape.

The focus of this second announcement is to prepare ourselves to seriously help each other understand that this programme is about working with the youth in order to mainstream them and facilitate their participation towards growing the economy and water services authorities and other partners opening opportunities for these trainees to complete their training and also creating employment opportunities.

The other important point is to further talk on the intended objectives of this programme and demystify some myth that have since developed since the start of this project and in this way the department will be able to assist the youth to share the vision of government in terms of youth empowerment, general skills development and participation in building and inclusive economy.

The training qualification of water agents, artisans and plumbers will go a long way in undertaking water conservation advocacy, pollution reduction campaigns, water wise household and gardening, installation of water efficient devices, infrastructure repairs and rehabilitation, leak detection and water audits.

This programme will at the end provide both the private and public sectors with the most essential skills highly sort out in the management of water business and administration thereof.

This programme has a great potential to change the complexion of the water use and demand management in the country.

Pamela Tshwete is the deputy minister of Water and Sanitation