Featured
Mendy Shozi: Water’s Importance Cannot Be Overstated
Water is scarce, wasted, and taken for granted. It is also a vital source of life and dignity. Mendy Shozi, President of the South Africa Youth Parliament for Water and project manager at Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association, is in her words “water...
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...
Sustainability in Action: Enza Construction’s Key Role in Seriti Vunumoya MTS & LILO
Enza Construction, a well-established player in integrated building and infrastructure solutions in South Africa, highlights its expertise in civil engineering through its involvement in the Seriti Vunumoya MTS & LILO project. The completion of...
Blue Drop success: private sector shines
South African Water Works (SAWW) received 5 out of 26 Blue Drop Awards through its two subsidiaries – Siza Water and Silulumanzi. Siza Water is rated as the 3rd best water service provider in South Africa while Silulumanzi is the only water service...
Dr. Mpho Sam Nkambule Named 2023 Engineer of the Year for Revolutionary Renewable Energy Research
Dr. Mpho Sam Nkambule, an electrical engineer hailing from Pretoria, has been honored with the prestigious title of Engineer of the Year for 2023. His remarkable achievements and pioneering research in the realm of renewable energy have earned him...
Environmental hurdles reduced for lower sensitivity renewable projects
In a significant move to support the development of renewable energy, South Africa last month adopted new norms to simplify and speed up the authorisation process for solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities and battery energy storage systems (BESS)....
The Toyota Hilux of water management services
A subsidiary of the uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) Group, Umgeni Water Services (UWS) was established in 1997 to hold UUW’s shareholding in the Durban Water Recycling company. It has also won the concession to manage and operate the reuse plant at...
Diversifying water resource mix essential for supply security, says Mahlobo
Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo has emphasised the importance of diversifying South Africa’s water resource mix for water security. The Deputy Minister was addressing the Inaugural Built Environment Indaba hosted by the...
Sustainability
OPINION: Mines can’t ignore the carbon tax but they can take control of it
According to Air Quality Expert at the European Environment Agency, Alberto Gonzalez Ortiz, the world has seen a dramatic drop in pollution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this is mainly due to the reduction in Nitrogen Dioxide emitted by road...
AfriSam-SAIA Sustainability Award extends entry deadline
Tight lockdown measures in most countries around the world have resulted in unintended, but positive, consequences for the environment. Nature has been given the opportunity to reclaim some of her natural position and many regions have experienced...
Five power supply considerations for businesses facing threatened energy security
As South Africans settle into the routine and inconvenience of load shedding and planning their activities around shifting electricity supply, it is businesses that are taking the biggest hit through the loss of operational capabilities,...
Standard Bank issues inaugural green bond
Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (“SBSA”) has issued its first ever green bond, via private placement with IFC, a development finance institution focused on the private sector, part of the World Bank Group. It is a 10-year facility with the...
PwC SDGs analysis: Businesses remain on starting blocks for integration and progress
An analysis by PwC of over 1000 published reports from listed, private and public sector organisations, highlights that with only ten years to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a great deal of work to be done if business is...
Top trends energising Africa’s power sectors
An optimal energy mix for Africa relies on a variety of generation technologies. In fact, in a 2015 report McKinsey estimated that if every country in Africa had to build to meet their current electricity demand, the region would require about $490...
Industry News
Demolition vs deconstruction in a sustainable built environment
A sustainable built environment extends well beyond deconstruction. It has to consider the risk profile of deconstruction versus demolition, as well as the salvage value of equipment versus the recycling value thereof, in order to make informed and...
Contract awarded for R61 upgrade from Baziya to Mthatha airport project
The R237 million contract to upgrade the R61 from Baziya to Mthatha Airport has been awarded – the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has announced. The National Route R61, Section 7 from Baziya to Mthatha Airport, phase...
South Africa’s first electric bus officially goes live
South Africa’s first active electric bus has officially been launched in Cape Town. Golden Arrow Bus Services earlier this year started testing two fully electric buses to determine the viability of a carbon-neutral fleet. Sufficient testing...
Metro News
Government must ensure that quality infrastructure is provided in all schools: Zondo
Government must do more to ensure that quality infrastructure is provided in all schools in the country. That’s the call made by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo. He attended a handover ceremony of a newly revamped primary school in...
KwaZulu-Natal has not fully recovered from drought effects
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial water storage has marginally improved following recent rains in some parts of province; however water conservation efforts need to be doubled to ensure water security. The province’s dams rose from 54,9% last week to...
EThekwini announces multimillion-rand water infrastructure upgrade
EThekwini Municipality announced that its multimillion-rand water infrastructure upgrade would bring the long-standing water shortage woes of residents in oThongathi and the city’s western areas to an end. According to IOL, municipal spokesperson...
Engineering
Waste-to-Energy programmes key in the sustainable circular economy
The business case for transforming waste to address critical energy shortages is mounting, says Webb Meko.* Sustainability efforts and growing interest in the circular economy are driving developed and developing nations to look inward and focus on...
Building tomorrow’s megacities
IMIESA spoke to Kibiti Ntshumaelo, managing director of Lekwa Consulting Engineers, about the company’s amazing journey since its founding back in 2002, and the upcoming celebration of its 15th anniversary in October. How did it all start?...
Numsa to convene national meeting over engineering sector strike
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) will convene a national meeting to determine the way forward on the future of wage negotiations in the engineering sector. The Numsa Central Committee met from 24 to 28 of July in...
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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.