Featured
Navigating Resistance: Overcoming Barriers to Regulatory Reform in South Africa’s Water Sector
Introducing new regulations often meets with resistance, and the water sector in South Africa is no exception. Regulation 3630 is an example and stems from various sources, including institutional inertia, stakeholder interests, and socio-economic factors....
Featured
Making Every Drop Count In Gqeberha
Droughts are not new to Gqeberha (formerly called Port Elizabeth). Located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, Gqeberha experiences a semi-arid climate with erratic rainfall, making it prone to periodic water scarcity. This has inspired a unique partnership...
Featured
Reducing Risk and Building Trust with Bureau Veritas
A world leader in testing, inspection and certification services, Bureau Veritas operates in agri-food, industry, commodities as well as building and infrastructure markets. Water is a critical resource across all these sectors, and as its quality declines, water...
Featured
Tsebo Facilities Management Champions Water Conservation in the Workplace
Multiple provinces in the country are grappling with deteriorating water quality and increasingly frequent and lengthy disruptions to water supply. And as a workplace management solutions provider, Tsebo is tackling this reality head-on. “Most of our customers within...
Benchmarking leads to a transparent construction sector
Procurement is often a long and bureaucratic process, a process that has seen increased scrutiny due to corruption but one that is at the heart of economic development. There is a need for improved procurement procedures and benchmarking is a...
New arc welding standards open for public comment
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) is seeking public comment on the adoption of several International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards into the South African National Standards (SANS). These standards are designed...
New levy on gas and petroleum pipelines announced
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) introduced new levies on the piped gas and petroleum pipelines industries that lay the foundation for addressing financial and operational requirements within the energy sector. This decision...
South Africa’s first solar facade skyscraper
Energy Partners, in collaboration with Fairvest Limited, has just completed the Metalbox skyscraper solar project in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. This is a first for South Africa in terms of sustainable architecture. The groundbreaking project...
Precast concrete: a game-changer in water infrastructure
The real potential of precast concrete is yet to be fully harnessed in South Africa to significantly fast-track the construction of quality water infrastructure. However, with sound upfront planning of the execution of these construction projects,...
Proposed New Raw Water Use Tariffs for Vaal-Orange Catchment
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in collaboration with the Vaal-Orange Catchment Management Agency, has proposed new raw water abstraction tariffs for the 2025/26 financial year. These changes will impact domestic and industrial water...
Sustainability
HEINEKEN is brewing a better world
Heineken South Africa has taken a bold step toward reducing carbon emissions in all its operations and reaching its 2030 net-zero goals. Heineken South Africa has taken a bold step in moving closer to reducing carbon emissions in all its...
Waste sector income and plastic recycling on the up
More than 40 local, district and provincial municipalities countrywide have benefitted from strategic sustainability partnerships in 2021/2 – not just improving waste collection and PET plastic recycling rates, but also creating much-needed income...
Can planks and paper packaging help solve the climate crisis?
A new report – The growing role of forest products in climate change mitigation – launched at COP27, highlights that sustainable forestry operations and forestry policies vary across the globe and suggests that forestry and harvested...
SA cement and concrete industry tackling huge local and global challenges
The entire South African cement and concrete industry is threatened by multiple challenges of economic decline, the crisis in the construction industry, cheap imports and environment-related issues. Some 35, 000 local jobs are on the line, together...
Checkers rolls out new trolleys made from recycled milk bottles
Checkers is rolling out new shopping trolley baskets made from 100% recycled plastic – mostly old milk bottles – thereby diverting more than 40 tons of recyclable material from landfill. The retailer’s trolleys have contained at...
Cloud is the way to digitise commercial construction industry
There is a significant increase in investment in cloud computing within the commercial construction industry because the technology is recognised as the best way to facilitate digital transformation. This is according to Morag Evans, CEO Databuild,...
Industry News
Govt’s infrastructure plans to boost demand for galvanized steel
Government spending on building new and rehabilitating existing infrastructure will increase from R66.7 billion from 2022 to 2023 to R112.5 billion from 2025 to 2026. It includes roads, bridges, stormwater systems and public buildings. This makes...
Civil construction activity poised for recovery in coming months
After registering a low of only 9 in 1Q2022, the confidence of civil contractors, as measured by the FNB/BER Civil Construction Index, has gradually risen over the course of the year. At 31 in 4Q2022, the index is at its best level since the...
Opinion
[OPINION] Meeting the need for skills and labour to solve SA’s energy crisis
South Africa’s recent energy crisis escalation into Level 5 and 6 load shedding has highlighted the stark need for businesses, industries and municipalities to generate their own power. By Wayne Alcock, Managing Director at Quyn International...
Metro News
More water made available to Rand Water as a temporary measure
Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has committed to increasing the bulk water allocation to the Rand Water system as an emergency measure to address water shortages in the Gauteng metros, district, and local municipalities. “We note the...
Limited resources at Stats SA lead to deterioration of data quality -SDSA
“Although Statistics South Africa continues to do exemplary work, limited resources constrain their work,” says Burgert Gildenhuys, director of Spatial Data Services Africa (SDSA). Stats SA released their Mid-Year Population Estimates...
Drive to avert water shortages in Nelson Mandela Bay intensified
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in conjunction with Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) embarked on a public water saving campaign to ensure that there is adequate water for everyone in the area. During the campaign...
Waste
Engineering
CESA Welcomes ECSA’s new CPD validation procedure
Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) has welcomed the Engineering Council of South Africa’s (ECSA) decision to refine its processes for validating programmes. The ECSA is set to refine CPD Category 1: Developmental Activities (courses,...
Mchunu urges contractors to complete greater Brandvlei water scheme
Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has urged contractors of the Greater Brandvlei Water Scheme in the Western Cape to complete the project. Mchunu made the call during a ministerial media tour of the water scheme in Worcester on Thursday....
SA needs deeper welding expertise to maintain safety critical infrastructure
One of the major factors that play a significant role in the economy is the basic supply of electricity and water. To maintain this supply, welding is a critical part of the maintenance chain that must be carried out at an acceptable standard using...
Technology
Read our Magazines
Digital Magazines
Water & Sanitation Africa
The official magazine of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA), the magazine publishes content dealing with the supply, governance, financing, treatment and measurement of water and sanitation in southern Africa.