A Grade 11 learner from KwaZulu-Natal, Mvumikazi Mcelwane, has been named the overall winner of the 2012 Youth Water Awards.

Mvumikazi walked away with an R8 000 cash prize, a return ticket to Stockholm Sweden, R2 000 to spend in Sweden, bursary for a career in the water sector and a laptop.

Mvumikazi said her inspiration for the winning project came from her concern about the dust in the city which was caused by coal power stations. “When you enter Johannesburg, it’s seldom you find the blue sky but rather dusty and dirty particles. Whilst we need coal power stations to supply electricity, we end up breathing the air pollution, hence there was a need to develop inventions to solve the problem,” said Mvumikazi.

Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi presented Mvumikazi and the other winners the awards last Friday during the National Youth Water Summit.

The award ceremony was a culmination of a week-long intensive educational programme for the in-school youth and out of school youth, where they engaged in various exciting activities such as excursions, public speaking, debates, national competitions, consolidating report of existing youth initiatives/programmes from respective participating countries and drafting an African Youth Strategy on Water and Implementation Plan.

The youth summit created a platform for young people participating in the projects of the school based water and environment education programme called 2020 Vision.

The winners were awarded for their initiatives in categories including Baswa le Meetse (Youth in Water), South African Youth Water Prize (SAYWP), Aqua-Enduro and Public Speaking.

The Baswa le Meetse category, which targeted Grade 6 learners, was based on projects that conveyed health and hygiene messages through medium of art like drama, traditional music, poetry, praise singing and posters. Winners in this category were Cabane Junior Secondary School from the Eastern Cape; Mangwato Primary School from Limpopo; Solomondale Primary School from Limpopo; Kwa-Msikwa Junior Secondary School from Eastern Cape and Sindekile Primary School which all received R6 000, a media centre, trophies and certificates.

In the SAYWP category learners between Grade 9 and 11, were engaged in identifying problems and developing inventions and awareness projects to solve them. Mvumikazi who took first position in this category was followed by Tshepo Mmolaeng, Kutlwano Tshelwane and Boichoko Mogatle from Northern Cape who won a R6 000 cash prize, a laptop and a bursary for a career in the water sector. They were followed by Masego Mabena, Kgabo Kubyana, Tsakane Manganyi from Gauteng who scooped a R4 500 cash prize, a laptop and a bursary for a career in the water sector.

The Aqua-Enduro’s core business of the programme focused on issues of drinking water quality. It aimed to develop an interest in learners who were between Grade 8 and 11 to pursue careers in the water sector, whilst public speaking targeted learners between Grades 10 and 11 who focused on raising awareness about the impact of climate change on water resources.

Handing over the prizes to various winning schools, Mabudafhasi said that the department will continue to embark on robust educational programmes with specific messages, which will focus on the topical issues such as water leaks and water quality.

“The national winning schools will be put into Eco schools 3 year programmes (integration of water and environment), which will include impact assessment, the careers promotion will be one of the key focus areas of the education programme,” Mabudafhasi said.

MTN, which was one of the sponsors of the youth water summit and has been in partnership with the department since 2005, sponsored a fully-fledged computer laboratory for the winning school, which include 21 working stations, projector, internet service subsidise for 24 months all to the value of R1.7 million.

Other sponsors included, Rand Water, Coca Cola, ERWAT, Sedibeng Water and National Youth Development Agency.

Source: SAnews.gov.za