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...
Latest News
Announcement: Winding-down of Cement & Concrete SA
The Board of Cement & Concrete SA (CCSA), the industry body that has been advancing world class quality and environmentally friendly cement as well concrete products for the local industry, has decided to wind-down its operations in the current...
Report: China’s Potential Role in Driving Africa’s Renewable Energy Revolution
Recent research from Boston University highlights China’s unique opportunity to spearhead an energy revolution across Africa. However, this potential hinges on a crucial reversal of nearly two decades of neglect towards green power...
Opinion Piece: Seeing the bigger picture – solar power needs to be about more than just building PV farms
Implementing sustainable and renewable energy solutions has become critical in assuring South Africa’s future, and one of the avenues being explored is the use of solar power. However, while several solar photovoltaic (PV) farms have been...
Collectively building skills for the water sector
The Energy and Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSETA) is a skills development authority that builds capabilities within the industry. Kirsten Kelly talks to Mpho Mookapele, the CEO of EWSETA about skills development planning and...
Metro’s increase capital expenditure during the first two quarters of 2023/24, despite having spent less than 30 percent of the cumulative annual budget
Capital expenditure by Metro’s increased by 20 percent y-y in the first two quarters of the 2023/24 financial year (last six months of the 2023 calendar year), excluding Nelson Mandela Bay, that again included significant adjustments. City of...
Solar PV Industry Questions Technology Costs and Build Limits in Proposed IRP
The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has raised significant concerns regarding the cost assumptions and building limits outlined in the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023). In its formal submission to the...
Sustainability
Five ways to tread a little lighter this Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated annually on 22 April. Now in its 49th year, Earth Day is one of the largest observances in the world with one billion people in 192 countries participating in activities each year. ‘Protect Our Species’, the theme for this...
New technologies ease SA into a low-carbon future
Power shortages and a transition to a lower-carbon future, in line with South Africa’s Paris Agreement commitments, will require the country to harness new technologies. Energy storage, which will be a critical element of a modern power system,...
Renewables key for a climate-safe future
Scaling-up renewable energy combined with electrification could deliver more than three quarters of the energy-related emission reductions needed to meet global climate goals. According to the latest edition of the International Renewable Energy...
Championing business sustainability
As an advocate for clean, green, reliable, and economical energy solutions, ABSA has made its campus in central Johannesburg self-sufficient, thanks to a world-class energy centre and grey water plant. Clean energy Absa’s Energy Centre is the first...
Revised Carbon Tax Bill introduced to Parliament
Last week the Minister of Finance introduced the revised Carbon Tax Bill to Parliament. The Bill takes into account feedback received during the Parliamentary hearings on the December 2017 draft Bill that took place earlier this year. The Bill aims...
Infrastructure essential to SDG targets
A new analysis has found that as much as 72% of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will rely on infrastructure systems. The report – a collaboration between the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), the UN, the World Bank and other...
Industry News
ABB Power Grids helps power South Africa to a greener energy future
The move towards decentralised power grids and a large-scale adoption of renewable energy will significantly alter the energy market in South Africa. “The introduction of renewables is making the energy space really interesting right now. This...
Corruption in the construction sector costing SA billions
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says South Africa had been left littered with unfinished projects because the construction sector was one of the most corrupt in the country. Graft in the construction sector has cost the...
Sisulu determined to root out corruption in water department
Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu says her department is determined to root out corruption and maladministration. Sisulu was briefing the parliamentary portfolio committee on human settlements, water and sanitation...
Metro News
How does Cape Town manage to save water?
Cape Town has been recognised as the number one water saving city in the world. This after it was able to stave off Day Zero after years of very low rainfall and bone-dry dams but how does Cape Town manage to save water? Source:...
KZN towns left without water for weeks
A water system upgrade for two KwaZulu-Natal towns has turned into a disaster. Many frustrated Himeville residents have been without water since the beginning of October, while Underberg’s taps ran dry for two weeks. Last month, the district...
Road deaths in Gauteng continue to increase
Between January and October, the province has seen 2,155 road fatalities as compared to 2,077 during the same period last year. The department of community safety’s Yusuf Bhyat attributed this to the failure of the media to emphasise the importance...
Engineering
Climate concerns scupper Limpopo coal-fired power station build
The North Gauteng High Court has ruled in favour of environmental rights organisation Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (ELA), and referred the appeal against the environmental authorisation for a new coal-fired power station back to the Minister of...
Death toll in Ethiopian garbage landslide soars to 82
On Monday 13 March, rescue workers were seen carrying the body of a victim recovered out from a pile of refuse, following a landslide at the Koshe dump in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Details emerging from the scene reveal that the and slide submerged...
SRK one of consulting engineering’s big five
SRK Consulting SA was rated as one of South Africa’s top five companies in the consulting engineering (mining and infrastructure) segment in the recent Top 500 Companies Awards. The awards survey over 3 000 businesses and honour those who excel 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.