Deputy Minister of Water Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi’s war on leaks has gained momentum as she launched the War on Leaks project in Randfontein, Gauteng at the end of last week, in conjunction with the Randfontein Local Municipality (RLM), the Independent Development Trust (IDT) and the Rand Water Foundation (RWF).

Speaking at the launch, Mabudafhasi indicated that in order to meet the country’s social and economic developmental needs as outlined by President Jacob Zuma in his 2010 State of the Nation Address, we have to reduce water loss by half in 2014.

The War on Leaks project aims to eradicate water leaks at household level, educate users about water conservation, fix leaks, facilitate skills development and create jobs for young people. Through the War on Leaks project in Randfontein, 30 local indigent youth were trained and appointed as Water Conservation Warriors tasked with implementing the education and awareness programme, as well as rolling out the retrofitting and leak repair initiative in the region.

On the launch day, Thursday 18 April 2013, the Deputy Minister worked with the Water Conservation Warriors to fix leaking taps at already identified households experiencing water leaks, before awarding the youth with competency certificates for a basic plumbing course they had participated in.

“The greatest contributors to the water loss were identified to be tap and toilet leaks which account for 88% of the water loss in Randfontein,” said Mabudafhasi.

According to the Department of Water Affairs and the Randfontein Local Municipality, to date a total of 3017 households have been visited and educated about the importance of conserving water.

“The Department of Water Affairs realises the need for local government support as a lack of capacity and resources hinders the implementation of projects. That is the reason why our Department has embarked on intervention programmes such as the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant, to ensure that dilapidated infrastructure is improved, and the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme, to ensure that the rectification of water infrastructure is taking place,” concluded Mabudafhasi.