RAND WATER ANNUAL REPORT 2023

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGED

PURPOSE OF ENGAGEMENTS BENEFITS OF THE ENGAGEMENTS

Midvaal Municipality, Midvaal Fire Rescue, Traffic Department, Sedibeng Disaster Department, Midvaal Early Childhood Development Forum and Early Childhood Development Centres

To educate learners on dangers of water.

To enhance stakeholders’ programme on safety related education for learners Promote IGR collaborations with the local municipality.

How to use water to save lives.

Water conservation.

Educating Our Communities We continue to use the Water Wise brand, an environmental brand of Rand Water, which is used to educate and influence a broad spectrum of stakeholders on how to use water wisely. Rand Water’s Water Wise Education Team (WWET) is responsible for educating stakeholders on efficient water use (water conservation and demand management), reducing wasteful use; prevention of water pollution; payment for water; protection of water sources; and implementation of business practices and principles that are water wise. Educational Water Wise programmes, targeted at adults and children, are more than just creating awareness. They are about creating an understanding of the country’s water situation to ensure that this understanding changes behaviour. These programmes acknowledge that behavioural change can only be achieved after continuous reinforcements of the same message, and so need to be conducted on a regular and sustainable manner. The conservation of water and the environment is vital for Rand Water’s sustainability. The start of the 2022/23 Financial Year was still within the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly impacted the ability, and number of programmes, offered by the WWET. As Rand Water staff returned to work from the office in October 2022, and schools gradually allowed educational programmes to resume by external organisations, the WWET education service returned to some form of normality. The WWET resumed education services from the three (3) Water Wise Centres: • Rand Water Nature Centre in Glenvista. • Vereeniging Purification Station. • Jewish National Fund Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre in Mamelodi. The number of educational programmes facilitated by the WWET during the 2022/23 Financial Year are summarised below. Table 14: The number of Water Wise Educational Programmes facilitated during the 2022/23 Financial Year

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Number

Total learners, teachers and adults reached through the programmes.

19 743

Total number of programmes and Roadshows facilitated.

118

Exhibitions/ brand visibility initiatives aimed at external stakeholders.

16

Exhibitions/ brand visibility initiatives aimed at internal stakeholders. 7 Teacher Programmes i.e., programmes conducted with teachers that assist them to implement topics in the school curriculum or programmes where the services offered by the WWET are advertised. 5 Sustainability Programmes i.e., the WWET collaborates closely with several schools and assists them to address various sustainability issues in the school, especially water-related issues. 5

126