In her 2016/2017 budget speech on 11 May 2016, Deputy Minister Pamela Tshwete of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) announced detailed plans to aid municipalities unable to cope with the current drought or to meet the service delivery requirements of their communities.
The drought mitigating strategies of DWS include new campaigns such as Drop a Block (save water used in toilets), the Hippo Water Roller (transport and store water) and others.
In our continued engagements with municipalities, we have observed that there are still some communities located very far from water sources especially in the rural areas and informal settlements. In these communities many people carry water to their homes often over long distances, pay heavy fees for the transportation and this has proved to be time consuming especially to the girl child. – Deputy Minister Pamela Tshwete
As part of its R15 billion+ budget for 2016/2017 the DWS will invest effort and resources in the provision of what it calls ‘Water on Wheels Technologies’ such as wheelbarrows fitted with water containers, Hippo Water Rollers and others. These will be distributed in partnership with the municipalities.
- Source: https://pmg.org.za/briefing/22513/ see point 5.9
In a meeting with various water sector stakeholders after her presentation of the DWS budget vote in Parliament, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane applauded the spirit of partnerships in the water sector and emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts amongst all sector stakeholders.
The Hippo Water Roller Project welcomes the partnership with the DWS and is ready to work with all stakeholders to assist municipalities in the provision and distribution of Hippo Water Rollers to rural communities.
The Hippo Water Roller was identified by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) in 2012 as an “an appropriate innovative technology for most rural areas in South Africa… well accepted by all the beneficiaries.” This was the result of an in-depth impact study of the Hippo Water Roller conducted by the DRDLR in the Eastern Cape. (https://www.hipporoller.org/documents/report-dept-rural-development-land-reform-2012/)
Designed in Africa for Africa, the 90 litre Hippo Water Roller enables women, children and the elderly to collect 5 times more water than a single bucket by simply rolling it along the ground. The original South African innovation makes more water and time available for education, household tasks and food production enabling people to transport up to 5 x more water to their homes and food gardens.
For more information on the Hippo Water Roller:
- Website: www.hipporoller.org.
- Email: support@hipporoller.org
- Contact: 082 447 1848
