The City of Cape Town has launched a river cleaning project in memory of the late Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Professor Kader Asmal, who died in Cape Town in June 2011.
The project, named the Kader Asmal Integrated Catchment Management Project, will create 400 jobs for a two-year period, and is part of the Mayoral Special Jobs Programme.
Asmal’s widow, Louise, was present at the launch of the project and thanked the City for introducing the programme, saying she was sure her husband would have supported it.
Executive Mayor Alderman Patricia de Lille said Asmal first identified the need for such activities to ensure a clean water supply.
The river cleaning programme is the first project of the Mayor’s Special Job Creation Programme and will create 400 jobs for residents living near the rivers which will be cleaned. These include Diep River; Salt River; Liesbeek River; Black River; Eleis Kraal River; Keyser River; Prince Kasteel River; Westlake River; Zandvlei River; Zeekoevlei River; Rondevlei River; Eerste River; Kuils River; and the Khayelitsha Wetlands.
“We will do all that we can to alleviate the immediate demands of poverty while continuing with our long-term strategy to ensure that we create the economic environment in which investment can grow and jobs can be created.”
The project is based on the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) model, and will thus be labour intensive in order to maximise job opportunities.
It will be implemented in different phases, including the identification of problems, schedules of cleaning, and monitoring, in order to ensure its sustainability.
The employment opportunities include removing invasive plants; river clean-ups; litter disposal; repairing leaking sewers; identifying pollution hotspots and cleaning.
Raising awareness of littering and dumping by residents as well as a river warden system are critical aspect of the programme.
According to Working for Water, the recruits will earn an average wage of R76.50 a day.
“This programme will go a long way to helping us protect a valuable resource and ensure that we adhere to the principle of sustainable development, which includes safeguarding our natural resources. Most critically, it will provide relief for those most in need in our society. In all, it brings together respect for our natural heritage with respect for our social heritage as well,” De Lille said.
