These are the words of Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the Ekurhuleni Metro, of their educational campaign at schools throughout Ekurhuleni.
“It is also up to those who will be leaders in the future to start treating this precious resource with the respect it deserves,” he says.
Officials from the water and sanitation department are spreading the theme ‘Water is life and sanitation is dignity’ and getting their message through with practical exercises with the children as well as handing out educational material.
The campaign is focused on sharing water saving tips with primary school pupils, where they also get an opportunity to participate in practical activities such as fixing water leaks, which are one of the main causes of water loss in the metro.
A Grade One pupil at Strubenvale Primary School, Tayron Mayer, is already knowledgeable about water saving and shared his ideas with his schoolmates. “We must never leave the water running when we brush our teeth in the morning and we must always close the tap hard when we finish drinking water,” he says.
Kgontse Gumede says: “Water is life, we bathe with water, we water plants with water and we flush the toilet with water.”
Meanwhile the Grade Seven pupils at Strubenvale Primary School rolled up their sleeves to do the real work to fix the problem of water loss from leaking pipes.
Khomo Sekgone and Cosmo Ayubu were paired together to fix a leaking pipe using a leaking garden hose pipe, silicon tape and a hose clamp lock.
The pupils were required to work as a team to stop the leak.
They worked on the challenge until they mastered it and they were competent enough to educate their peers on the exercise.
Ayubu says: “I enjoy being handy around the house at home and usually assist my father to fix a lot of things, but today I feel like I have learnt something new and maybe I will teach him as well.”
