The nutrient enrichment problem can’t be solved unless appropriate levels of wastewater treatment are applied
Informal recycling gives people a sense of purpose and fulfilment and contributes hugely to recycling in the country
An NGO is providing parents with reusable nappies made out of bamboo fibre to replace disposable ones
Three people were killed and dozens injured a year ago when the tailings dam at the Jagersfontein diamond mine collapsed
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
Landowners and businesses in the Unesco World Heritage Site are up in arms over municipal sewage pollution
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
It’s affordable and in style, but cheap can be nasty; it uses vast quantities of water, pollutes and contributes to climate change
Farmers in the Apies River area decry the damage pollution from the defective wastewater treatment plant has done to their farms and livelihoods
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
The Green and Blue Drop reports show that more than 90% of the country’s wastewater treatment works are dysfunctional
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
With its broken sewage and failing water treatment plants, South Africa has the perfect conditions for diseases such as cholera to thrive
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
Just 156 green jobs out of a target of 1 120 were created in 2021-022 financial year
In Accra, as in much of urban Africa, waste management falls far short of what it needs to be. Plastic waste is killing marine life and fishers’ incomes
Johannesburg, with its mine dumps and malls, ever eating its own tail in the name of progress, has a complex heritage
But the municipality has laid the blame for the filthy state of Tembisa at the feet of the community
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
A clean environment is a constitutionally recognised right in South Africa but one that is routinely violated
The directive orders the city to stop untreated waste from entering rivers
Heavy rain and pollution has led to the aquatic weed increasing its coverage to about 50% of the dam
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
Excessive rainfall last month has caused untreated toxic water from old gold mines to decant into waterways on the West Rand
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
After 60 years of air pollution by oil refineries, it will take Wentworth residents at least two generations to reverse epigenetic changes.
But if we continue on the present trajectory of delay and decay, water insecurity and worse looms for our water-scarce country
The wellbeing of our country and every person living in it depends on a healthy environment — the ecological carrying capacity
State’s charge sheet fires six counts of environmental infractions at energy giant
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
UCT’s Kevin Winter explains the dangers of poor management and how wastewater can be better utilised
The criminal case relates to a complaint brought by a former Sasol employee-turned-whistleblower, Ian Erasmus
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s decision decried on environmental grounds
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
But the government can’t move on its fracking ambitions until it meets the court order requiring that there will be no environmental damage
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
The plant’s closure means that a tide of toxic mine water is rising significantly underground, which could decant into the environment within months
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
Broken abstraction pumps at the Eastern basin treatment plant mean that water supply may become contaminated, posing a serious threat
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
The Green Drop 2022 report, the first since 2013, reflects a serious deterioration in the management of wastewater treatment plants
This content is restricted to subscribers only.
Join the M&G Community
Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently.
Subscribe
Subscription enables:
- – M&G community membership
- – independent journalism
- – access to all premium articles & features
- – a digital version of the weekly newspaper
- – invites to subscriber-only events
- – the opportunity to test new online features first
Already a subscriber?
Login here.
Judge says environment minister’s denial of the harm caused is at odds with science, and gives her a deadline to prescribe long-delayed pollution regulations
Ramaphosa said planned institutional reform will improve the enforcement of water standards at municipal level
From pharmaceutical waste and radioactive pollutants in Lake Victoria in East Africa, to acid mine drainage in South Africa, water pollution is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa
Eskom warns that the decision, if implemented, will cause immediate power blackouts, as well as push electricity tariffs higher