Canadian foreign affairs minister visits Alexandra Water Warriors’ Jukskei river project

Minister Mélanie Joly sees firsthand how local initiatives combat climate change, empower women, and reduce flood risk through nature-based solutions.

8 hours ago

Ayanda Ntshingila 2 minutes read

Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Melanie Joly, and city officials at the Jukskei river project.

Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Mélanie Joly, visited the Jukskei River to view Alexandra Water Warrior’s efforts. She was accompanied by MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services (ESID) councillor Jack Sekwaila, the city manager Floyd Brink, among others.

The Alexandra Water Warriors are a group dedicated to rehabilitating the river and planting trees under the Scaling Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA) project. SUNCASA aims to reduce flood risks, enhance climate adaptation, promote gender equality, and protect biodiversity in urban settings.

The project is significant as it aligns with the City’s water security strategy, which aims to create resilient, livable, and sustainable urban water environments, and foster a water-conscious society. The EISD played a key role in developing the proposal to secure funding for implementing the NbS, with a focus on strengthening climate resilience, and protecting biodiversity, by conserving and restoring watersheds in urban communities.

After meeting the strict criteria laid out by funders, the city began defining specific activities and work packages, consolidating project sites, identifying local partners, and creating implementation plans. The city remains committed to submitting proposals to various funding platforms to secure climate and green finance for different sectors highlighted in its water security strategy.

“We are grateful to minister Mélanie Joly for visiting today and seeing how we’re working with nature to empower women, fight climate change, and reduce flood risk in Johannesburg,” said Janina Schnick, EISD project lead for SUNCASA.

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Amanda Gcanga, country lead at World Resources Institute, said, “minister Joly’s visit highlights the importance of protecting natural infrastructure and building climate resilience in Johannesburg. We’re grateful she could engage with local organisations we’re partnering with to scale up nature-based solutions in the Jukskei river catchment area.”

Paul Maluleke, co-founder of the Alexandra Water Warriors, shared how the community has united to address climate change along the Jukskei River. “Through the City and the SUNCASA project, we’re getting the attention and support needed to implement nature-based solutions. Unemployment is high, and the environment has become a significant source of employment in our community, with about 2 500 volunteers currently involved.”

Maluleke praised the benefits of the SUNCASA project, which enabled him to travel to Rwanda to learn from their environmental initiatives and river cleanup projects. “During Arbor Month, we plan to plant about 3 000 trees,” he added.

Brink said the city would continue to support the project and seek additional funding during budget adjustments to ensure the continuation of this impactful work. “We are grateful to the Canadian government for funding this budget and this will go a long way to address some of the socio-economic challenges being faced by this community as opportunities have been created.”