Water in Southern Africa

  • South Africa: Cape Town's Emergency Water Plans Making Progress

    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.
  • For Africa to end chronic hunger, governments must invest in sustainable water supplies, writes Esther Ngumbi.

    AFRICA, 2017/04/30 The fields are bare under the scorching sun and temperatures rise with each passing week. Any crops the extreme temperatures haven’t destroyed, the insect pests have, and for a lot of farmers, there is nothing they can do. Presently, news about hunger across Africa makes mass media headlines daily. Globally, hunger levels are at their highest. In fact, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, over 70 million people across 45 nations will require food emergency assistance in 2017, with Africa being home to three of the four nations deemed to face a critical risk of famine: Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. African governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian relief agencies, inclunding the United Nations World Food Programme, continue to launch short-term solutions such as food relief supplies to avert the situation. Kenya, for example, is handing cash transfers and food relief to its affected citizens. The UN World Food Programme is as well distributing food to drought-stricken Somalia. And in Zambia, the government is employing each tool inclunding its military to combat insect pest infestation. But why are we here? What happened? Why is there such a large drought?
  • South Africa: Finance minister in hot waters, rand tumbles

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/08/27
  • South Africans Urged To Use Water Sparingly

    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.
  • Zambia Doesn't Hold 60% of Southern Africa's Freshwater, but 4.5%

    ZAMBIA, 2015/08/08 The claim that Zambia has 60% of the Southern African Development Community's freshwater is completely false. If Zambia has 60% of the freshwater in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), why does it import fish from China? Investment consultant, Fisho Mwale, reportedly referred to this at the same time as he made a presentation at a national enterprise conference in Lusaka last week. The claim that the landlocked country is home to 60% of the community's water has appeared before in a 2012 tweet, a press release by the Southern Africa Zambia chamber of commerce and an investment policy review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Improvment(OECD). It is as well on the schedule for a conference about commercial farming in Africa to be held in October.
  • The Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane will visit Zimbabwe

    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.
  • Construction at Neckartal Dam on course

    NAMIBIA, 2014/12/10 Construction at the Neckartal Dam in Namibia is on course and expected to be completed within the scheduled time frame of 36 months, according to Fabrizio Lazzarin Salini SpA project manager. Speaking to the Namibian Daily Newspaper Lazzarin said the setting up of a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) plant is expected to be completed by March next year. He added that excavation for the construction of the right and left flank dam walls are well on track.
  • Congo-Kinshasa: SA Pushes for Grand Inga Hydropower Project Go-Ahead

    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.
  • Water supply and commercial interests in South Africa

    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.
  • Zimbabwe’s major inland dam will be drained

    ZIMBABWE, 2014/06/04 Zimbabwe’s major inland dam will be drained to allow the construction of a new wall next the original structure burst before this year. Thousands of people were evacuated and additional than 3 000 villagers along the Tokwe Mukorsi basin left homeless next heavy rains caused the Tokwe-Mukorsi dam to partially collapse early this year. Construction of the new wall is schedule to begin this month. However, the engineers say the dam must be emptied for the wall to be constructed. This has raised concern as the dam water will not be used productively.