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Water crisis looms
KZN WATER CRISIS

R4bn down the drain as KZN sheds 60% in non-revenue water

KwaZulu-Natal municipalities are losing close to R4 billion annually in water revenue, with eThekwini accounting for half of this. Revelations from a provincial water summit…

  • Sandile Motha
2 min read
The solar panels are going up. The wind farms are being commissioned. The investment is flowing. The problem? The wires to carry all that electricity don't exist yet and the unit deciding who gets access to them still sits inside the organisation most conflicted by the answer
ENERGY TRANSITION

Africa's clean energy future is stuck in grid traffic

South Africa, rich in solar and wind resources with billions ready for investment, faces a critical bottleneck: a severe lack of power lines and an opaque grid access queue. This…

  • Heinrich van der Walt
5 min read
As renewable investment scales across the continent, conventional risk tools will need to be complemented by market-responsive strategies that reflect the institutional and financial realities of each context.
ENERGY INVESTMENT

The risk problem with investors treating African energy as one market

The 2024 El Niño drought severely impacted Southern Africa's energy infrastructure, notably Lake Kariba, exposing the diverse and complex risks investors face across the…

  • Vuyo Mafrika
  • Chewe Chumany
  • Opy Ramaremisa
5 min read
DEVAC Infrastructure Summit 2026: Pictured are H.E. Ben Ainsley, His Majesty’s Acting Trade Commissioner for Africa, UK Department for Business and Trade; Hon. David Mahlobo, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, South Africa; Nangamso Matebese, Special Advisor to the Deputy President of South Africa; Hon. July Moyo, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development; and Mohammed Abdool, Chief Executive of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), during the DEVAC Infrastructure Summit 2026.
DEVAC

Projects to Progress: Infrastructure takes centre stage at DEVAC 2026

The DEVAC Infrastructure Summit highlighted the urgent need to move infrastructure projects from planning to implementation, with speakers emphasising financing, execution…

  • Thokozile Mnguni
6 min read
Primary risk: The most important part of scaffolding is the planning, engineering drawings, the load calculations and daily inspections. When the discipline slips, the system becomes vulnerable. Picture: Supplied
BUILDING INDUSTRY

Safety vs profit in building sector

Cutting corners while balancing construction pressure and tight deadlines can be fatal

  • Ash Müller
6 min read
Gauteng MEC Lebogang Maile’s State of Education address reflects a department under pressure but attempting to demonstrate responsiveness.
EDUCATION

Overcrowding, infrastructure failures and school safety dominate Gauteng education MEC’s agenda — but deeper structural pressures remain unresolved

Lebogang Maile warns that the province’s school system faces growing strain

  • Edwin Naidu
4 min read
In recent years, research Wright and colleagues led has highlighted how prolonged heat exposure places outdoor workers, children, older people and low-income communities at increased risk of dehydration, heat stress, respiratory illness and other adverse health outcomes. The risks are expected to intensify as temperatures continue to rise. (Envato Elements)
CITIES

Urban heat hits poorest areas hardest, new street data shows

A new global platform maps urban heat at street level, showing how exposure is rising and falling disproportionately on poorer communities, while giving cities tools to test…

  • Mandisa Makgakga
4 min read
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. (X)
ACTIONSA

Gauteng water crisis in the forefront as political parties challenge Lesufi’s Sopa promises

Gauteng’s prolonged water crisis and Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s recent comments — for which he later apologised — about using hotel facilities during outages returned to the…

  • Mandisa Makgakga
3 min read
INFRASTRUCTURE

Is the utility meter becoming Africa’s next financial engine?

Can essential infrastructure drive the next wave of financial inclusion? Will utilities evolve into major players in consumer finance? And who should govern household data in…

  • Partner Content
6 min read
Collaborative governance: The government of national unity had promised stability and accelerated reform. Photo: @PresidencyZA/X
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

The hits and misses under the GNU

A year after the president’s first State of the Nation address as the leader of a coalition government, performance has been good and bad

  • Mandisa Makgakga
7 min read
Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientso Ramokgopa
CABINET MINISTRIES

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa: Electricity and Energy

SCORE: B+ A remarkable milestone under Ramokgopa’s leadership is an impressive and sustained electricity supply record, with over 196 consecutive days without loadshedding for…

  • MG Reporter
1 min read
INFRASTRUCTURE

Financing the machines that build nations: Why heavy equipment may hold the key to SA’s infrastructure future.

South Africa has no shortage of ambition when it comes to infrastructure. A recent Nedbank report found that new infrastructure projects announced last year totaled R445 billion…

  • Trevor Saunders, Sector Head of Yellow Metal - Merchant West Asset Finance
4 min read
In the run-up to the 2021 local government elections, the Makana Citizens Front challenged corruption and dysfunction in the municipality rather than try to collapse state institutions. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Makana is not ripe for anarchy

Instead of replacing state capacity with grassroots action, we need to strengthen state institutions to serve the poor

  • Philip Machanick
6 min read
Building materials lie exposed and no workers have been seen for months at the R300-million Polokwane Regional Wastewater Treatment Works project. Photos: Judas Sekwela
BLOOD RIVER

Sewage in the rivers as Polokwane water treatment project stalls

Polluted water is flowing into the Blood and Sand rivers

  • Judas Sekwela
2 min read
The rural economy depends on resource-based industries such as agriculture, mining, fishing, tourism and forestry. Photo: File
AGRICULTURE

Infrastructure, governance failures limit growth of agriculture and development in rural areas

The rural economy should not be forgotten in South Africa’s economic growth agenda,

  • Wandile Sihlobo
3 min read
Antimicrobial resistance silent pandemic that already claims more than 1.3 million lives every year. File photo
AMR

Aid cuts, including by UK, undermine progress on fight against superbugs

Antimicrobial resistance threatens global health and economic stability. Urgent investment in surveillance, innovation and stewardship is critical to containment

  • Jose L Balcazar
4 min read
For the many who rightly feel abandoned by the government, and are sick of the state’s failures, the private sector stepping in to solve problems with energy, water and logistics might appear rational and necessary. (John McCann/MG)
ACCELERATED AND SHARED GROWTH INITIATIVES FOR SOUTH AFRICA

The privatisation agenda will not save South Africa

The state has tried the neoliberalism model in various forms for 31 years, and it has not worked

  • Andile Zulu
10 min read
Neglecting existing infrastructure generates higher long-term costs.
BEE

South Africa must revive its industrial ambitions

Black economic empowerment has been transformative but it needs to be revisited to broaden its pool of beneficiaries

  • Ashley Nyiko Mabasa
4 min read
The reality is that we simply cannot meet the African continent’s unique energy problems and opportunities without accelerating grid transformation. Photo: Salam Habash / Unsplash
AFRICA AUTOMATION TECH FAIR

Our ailing power grids need urgent upgrading to accommodate renewable energy

The recent outage in Spain and Portugal shows we must modernise how we transport power, supported by AI and automation

  • Sabine Dall’Omo
5 min read
Grave concern: President Cyril Ramaphosa (above) regards allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu as requiring ‘the highest-priority attention’.
2025 BUDGET

Faster reforms will spur faster growth: Ramaphosa

The president and the national treasury launched phase two of Operation Vulindlela on Wednesday, expanding its focus areas

  • Emsie Ferreira
5 min read