Water in South Africa
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2017/07/12
The City of Cape Town says plans of potentially partnering with the private sector to create a short-term emergency water supply using desalination, storm water capture or aquifer extraction are progressing well.
City's Mayoral Committee Member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services; and Energy, Xanthea Limberg, said that Monday was the closing date for responses in terms of the Request for Data to the private sector, which the city issued to see how partnerships can help with short-term emergency supply schemes.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/08/27
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2015/11/17
South Africans have been urged from presently on again to use water sparingly.
The call was made on Friday by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for water scarcity and drought, which is led by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Pravin Gordhan.
Briefing media in Pretoria on Friday, the committee warned that water is not an abundant commodity in South Africa.
“In Johannesburg, you have 1.4 million households and today as we stand, 8000 households has had water interruptions over the last week. Over the last week or so, some 50 000 households in Johannesburg have been impacted by water interruption,” said Minister Gordhan.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2014/12/15
South Africa and Zimbabwe are set to sign a Water Bilateral Agreement on Friday 12 December, which will see additional water being brought into the country.
The Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane will visit Zimbabwe primarily to attend the Signing Ceremony of the Certified Agreement on the Cooperation on Water Resources Management.
The conference will as well look at the Establishment and Functioning of The Joint Water Commission between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
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CONGO KINSHASA, 2014/11/06
The Grand Inga Hydropower project may prove to be South Africa's solution to the current and next energy challenges if the South African legislature ratifies the treaty on the energy scheme with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The treaty, signed by South Africa and the DRC in October this year, provides the framework for the facilitation of power generation from the Grand Inga project and its delivery to the border between the DRC and Zambia.
On Tuesday, 5 November, South African parliament's portfolio committee on energy made a approbation that the legislature make an official decision on the hydropower project to be built on the Inga dams along the Congo River. The multi- phase hydro power station has the potential to generate approximately 40 000MW, sufficient to power half of Africa.
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LESOTHO, 2014/09/14
An August 30 army coup caused Lesotho’s prime minister to flee, leaving neighbouring South Africa - which surrounds the tiny mountain kingdom - nervous about the fate of its water supply and commercial interests in the country.
Lesotho’ s army currently denies staging a coup, though Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has fled to South Africa - claiming to fear for his life. As of September 3, Mr Thabane had returned to Lesotho, albeit with a South African police escort.
However, the country’s political next remains in flux. Lesotho has a history of military coups stretching back to independence in 1996.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2014/05/06
The water sector is experiencing a critical scarce skills shortage, owing to an insufficient skills base and fierce competition in the labour market for skilled personnel, said the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) acting director- general Trevor Balzer.
During his address before this month at the Civilution Congress, in Ekurhuleni, he stated that a high retirement figure precipitated a huge loss in institutional memory, which included strategic and operational decision-making capabilities.
“An ongoing scarce skills shortage in the water sector is a threat to achieving water and sanitation delivery, conference compliance targets and implementing sustainable water resources management, and the country needs the correct skills to manage waterresources,” he noted.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2014/02/23
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2014/02/23
North West Premier Thandi Modise says her province is hard at work to ensure that additional homes get access to clean running water, and plans are well underway to eradicate the sanitation backlog.
Delivering her National of the Province Address on Friday, Minister Modise said the provision of services to improve the lives of the people, was at the top of her provincial government's schedule.
"We have made evolution. As part of the commitment made to the people of the North West, the Premier's Legacy Projects seek to meet the municipalities halfway in the delivery of basic services," the premier said.
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BOTSWANA, 2013/04/02
Access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a universal human right and central to human wellbeing and development. From presently on 780 million people still receive drinking water from unimproved sources and 2.5 billion people continue to live without access to improved sanitation facilities. IDS' work on water and sanitation has been looking at what additional needs to be done, particularly through a new set of post 2015 development goals, to ensure that this right is enjoyed by amount.
