The six-month period required to conduct maintenance is crucial to ‘avoid any catastrophic event’
The situation is frightening, says an anonymous source who used to work at the department of water and sanitation
Experts like civil engineers say it is not too late to save South Africa’s waterways from high levels of pollution
About 80% of the country’s dams are so enriched with nutrients they could produce toxic algal blooms
If allowed to pass the Vaal River Barrage, the plant has access to a journey of about 1 000km of the middle and lower Vaal river, the Bloemhof Dam and then into the Orange river
The blame game will only take us so far down the river
Three people were killed and dozens injured a year ago when the tailings dam at the Jagersfontein diamond mine collapsed
Significant opportunities exist to extract maximum value from water by treating it as a scarce resource and using it more than once
The director general said high levels of support and intervention by the department are slowing the decline in water and sanitation services, not reversing it
The Federated Hospitality Association of South African has called for urgent national government Intervention
In April last year, the department’s Green Drop report identified 334 wastewater systems in a critical condition in 90 municipalities.
More than half of the sites showed a high health risk if water
was used for irrigation
Homes, roads and bridges destroyed as two more sluice gates opened
The directive orders the city to stop untreated waste from entering rivers
Criminal charges have been filed against the municipal managers of a number of towns for polluting the Vaal and Orange rivers
The Maluti-a-Phofung municipality’s failure to provide people with water results in locals having to pay thousands of rand for water to private suppliers
The Trafficking in Persons report says Cuba benefits financially from its ‘coercive’ labour export programmes to 66 countries
It will be a test case in South Africa for river pollution, rehabilitation and holding polluters accountable
Broken abstraction pumps at the Eastern basin treatment plant mean that water supply may become contaminated, posing a serious threat
The Green Drop 2022 report, the first since 2013, reflects a serious deterioration in the management of wastewater treatment plants
The acid mine drainage happened at Khwezela Colliery’s south shaft, which had been sealed, but the volume of water exceeded the maximum capacity for treatment at the dosing site
Ramaphosa said planned institutional reform will improve the enforcement of water standards at municipal level
The department of water and sanitation and Rand Water have addressed questions about the inauspicious timing of this week’s shutdown
Lindiwe Sisulu responds to the story published in the 13 August edition of the M&G, ‘Water board overhaul imminent’
The president has signed a proclamation for the Special Investigating Unit to investigate R474-million in tenders
The Blue and Green Drop programmes are being relaunched to rebuild SA’s often poorly maintained and ‘looted’ water systems
South African scientists’ contracts were allegedly not renewed because of a funding gap
E.Coli counts in tributaries feeding the Hennops River run into tens of millions, far above the permitted limit
The state is saddled with the burden of treating acid water and polluters are escaping the responsibility
Benefits allegedly include flights for holidays in Cuba, furnished accommodation, food, clothing, internet and extra money to make landline calls to Cuba
Trade union will continue its application against the water department’s decision to employ 25 Cuban engineers, valued at more than R18-million a year
Department says minister Lindiwe Sisulu acted within her executive authority when she signed the agreement with Cuban engineers and scientists, and that keeping the 25 professionals in South Africa would cost R18.3-million a year