Cape Town - Working women are now among the 142 high-angle technicians who work in remote mountain locations on a special environmental project to bring water to Cape Town, giving new meaning to the phrase, “women move mountains”.
The women have been celebrated as the world prepares to commemorate International Mountain Day on Sunday.
Led by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Greater Cape Town Water Fund’s (GCTWF) high-angle teams are spearheading a 30-year project that will reclaim lost water, reduce fire risk, and protect biodiversity while creating green job opportunities.
Among the women is Mampho Malawu, 40, the first woman crew leader of a high-angle team. She is the only breadwinner in her family of five – her mother, sister and three children.
Alungile Mayekiso, 26, is a high-angle rope technician. As the sole breadwinner in her family, she has four dependants, including her daughter.
By 2045, their work is expected to yield 100 billion litres of water annually, which is one-third of Cape Town’s current annual demand.
Guided by science, the GCTWF is a public-private partnership that brings together sponsors, partners, and stakeholders for collective action.
One of the biggest supporters of the GCTWF project is the City of Cape Town.
“We’ve become the first city in South Africa to make a significant investment in clearing the thirsty alien invasive plants that reduce the surface water flow from rain which feeds our water supply dams for Cape Town,” said Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“We recognise the importance of healthy catchments in our water future and therefore we’ve invested actively through the Greater Cape Town Water Fund (GCTWF) to restore the catchments of Wemmershoek, Berg River and Steenbras dams.”
This year’s International Mountain Day – also proclaimed the UN International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development – highlights how “women move mountains” to protect this vital part of our environment and are the unsung heroes of sustainable social, economic and environmental development in mountain areas.
Cape Times