About R21-million has been spent on controlling the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe and a further R80-million will be allocated to affected areas.
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/ 5 December 2008
The results of further tests done to determine if the Limpopo River is contaminated with cholera are expected by Saturday.
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/ 4 December 2008
Cabinet has approved plans to embark on R7,3-billion project to augment the Vaal river system, it was reported on Thursday.
Water contamination was a factor in the death of nearly 80 babies in the Eastern Cape, the provincial government said on Wednesday. An interim report acknowledged that a ”multiplicity of causes”, including ”systematic failures affecting water quality”, were to blame for the deaths of the babies, said the provincial government in a statement.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will monitor investigations into the cause of the deaths of nearly 80 Eastern Cape babies, the body announced on Friday. Earlier this week, reports emerged that 78 children from the Eastern Cape had died as a result of diarrhoea allegedly caused by contaminated water.
An intensive investigation is under way to establish whether contaminated water in the Eastern Cape caused the death of nearly 80 children, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Thursday. Earlier this week, media reports said nearly 80 children from the towns of Barkly East, Maclear, Sterkspruit and Elliot had died from diarrhoea and other complications.
After a contamination scare on Friday morning, residents of northern Johannesburg can now safely drink their tap water again, Johannesburg Water said. During routine water testing, a "possible compromise" of the quality of drinking water in several suburbs had been detected.
Residents in northern Johannesburg areas were on Friday warned not to drink tap water as the quality was not up to standard, Johannesburg Water said. Spokesperson Baldwin Matsimela said during routine sampling on Thursday, it was found that the water supply was not up to standard.
Work on a multibillion-rand hydro-electric plant in Limpopo will start in September, with completion scheduled for 2015, the Sekhukhune municipality announced on Thursday. It forms part of Eskom’s capacity-expansion programme aimed at resolving the country’s energy shortages, municipal spokesperson Sizwe Yende said.
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks is guilty of ”denialism” when she says South Africa is not facing a water crisis, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. The country faces serious problems stemming from polluted water sources and the poor management of dams, sewage works and treatment plants, the DA said.
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/ 6 February 2008
Over half of South Africa’s public dams, including the biggest — the 5,3-billion cubic metre Gariep Dam — do not fully comply with modern-day safety standards, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Wednesday. ”As at October [last year], 160 of the 294 dams do not comply with current dam safety standards,” the department said.
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/ 6 February 2008
The power-supply crisis and looming fresh-water shortage are early warning signs that South Africa needs to curb use of natural resources, global wildlife fund WWF said on Wednesday. ”South Africa has a narrowing time window in which to act decisively to prevent critical resource shortages,” said South African WWF chief executive Dr Morné du Plessis.
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/ 4 February 2008
South Africa is not facing a water crisis, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday. The department was responding to media reports on the weekend, citing a National Nuclear Regulator report that suggested serious problems with the country’s water supply, including radioactive contamination, unsafe dams and waste spills.
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/ 3 February 2008
South Africa is on the brink of a water-contamination crisis, potentially as bad as the electricity fiasco of the past few weeks, the Business Times reported on Sunday. In an alarming report, the National Nuclear Regulator has confirmed evidence of contaminated crops and water.
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/ 3 December 2007
The introduction of prepaid water meters in Phiri, Soweto, was unlawful and violated the residents’ constitutional right to equality, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Monday. Court 6F was filled with members of the Inner-City Resource Centre and the Coalition against Water Privatisation — all in support of the Phiri residents.
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/ 21 November 2007
Failure by authorities to properly treat drinking water supplied to residents of Delmas may have triggered the recent mass outbreak of diarrhoea in the Mpumalanga town. Tests by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry have shown ”insufficient levels” of chlorine were added to the water supply between September 11 and October 14, MPs heard on Wednesday.