Everywhere water is under threat. It is our most precious resource. And there is no alternative to it.

More from Address to Cape Town Press Club, 13 May 2011

• Always when we walked, it was clear to me how much he loved nature, wild flowers, animals in their natural habitat and the simple pleasures of a beautiful sunset. My love for the environment did not develop out of a vacuum.
• Going against the tide has never been difficult for me. It wasn’t even a conscious decision but the natural consequence of following my own instinct.
• If we pass on an unsustainable environment to our children we have failed them.
• My love for the water would always be tempered by respect for dangers that must never be underestimated.
• Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid country about which was more important – gas or water. We can survive without gas. We cannot live without water.
• Nothing excited me more than opening up the atlas and seeing places and seas, imagining what they looked like and what kind of life the people had.