The best practices in South African water management will be recognised with a new award. The new water award category has been introduced as part of the National Science and Technology Forum’s (NSTF)-South32 Awards.

For many years the NSTF and the Water Research Commission (WRC) have worked together, coming up with water management solutions to promote water security in South Africa.

The organisations said that their “partnership will strive to identify and celebrate the excellent work being done in water research and innovation in South Africa and to promote best practices in water management”.

Dhesigen Naidoo, CEO of the WRC said that the commission plays a strategic leadership role in water research, its development and innovation. He also said that the WRC’s partnership with the NSTF demonstrated “the need to move research to impact”.

NSTF executive director, Jansie Niehaus said that with the water security challenges experienced in our country and globally, it is paramount to drive innovation in this space.

The new award

Naidoo said the WRC-NSTF award will create a platform to honour and recognise outstanding achievements in water management that often go unseen, and will also serve as a source of encouragement to the sector to be more pioneering.

The award will recognise the following contributions:

• Leadership in water research, development and knowledge generation
• Exceptional contributions towards informing and shaping the national water landscape through policy, decision-making and legislative enhancements
• Innovations that demonstrate sustainable solutions to water challenges in South Africa
• Outstanding work in trans-disciplinary approaches and water projects towards the empowerment of communities
• Improved models for integrating water opportunities into entrepreneurship and new product developments that will have a positive impact on water management in South Africa

NSTF-South32 Awards

The NSTF-South32 Awards takes place annually, honouring and celebrating outstanding contributions to science, engineering, technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa.

The Awards ceremony has grown over the years and is currently the largest public SET and innovation awards in South Africa. It is a flagship project of the NSTF in partnership with South32. The Awards are endorsed and supported by the Department of Science and Technology and the minister of Science and Technology is the official patron.