Charity organisation Water Aid has opened a new office in South Africa as part of its attempts to improve safe water access to some of Africas neediest communities
Water and environmental affairs deputy minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi, who inaugurated the office in Pretoria, said, “The office will help Water Aid strengthen its advocacy campaigning and policy work in the region, and give the organisation more flexibility in responding to water challenges as they arise.”
The new office will provide an opportunity for Water Aid to work closely with the South African government in a number of key strategic areas for the region.
Speaking at the launch, Mabudafhasi said it was high time South Africa and its partners intensified the response to water and sanitation issues as there were still millions of people who did not have access to the precious resource.
“The government cannot work alone and needs help of NGOs, which assist us to ensure that everybody has access to service delivery... We need to look at many issues relating to water, and the department and Water Aid... will forge a strong partnership to benefit the whole of South Africa and other organisations,” said Mabudafhasi.
She gave assurance that the department would support the organisation in its endeavours and work hand in hand with it to improve peoples' lives.
Water Aid has been working in 27 countries through four regional teams in Asia, West Africa, East Africa and southern Africa. Statistics from the organisation have revealed that 2.5 billion people globally do not have access to basic sanitation and 783 million were living without safe drinking water.
