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Municipal Infrastructure

latest news & developments
Contaminated: What looks like foam in the Klein Drinkwater stream is ammonia and there are high E.coli levels as well, Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Jack Bloom says. Photo: Supplied
WATER CRISIS

Ermelo braces for another Day Zero

Ermelo is bracing for an acute drinking water shortage within months as severe mining and sewage pollution, aging infrastructure, and looming El Niño conditions push the…

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
Of the 848 wastewater treatment plants assessed nationwide, 396 are in a critical state, while only about a quarter are performing at a standard that meets regulatory requirements. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
ARTICLE

‘We have the skills but not the system’: Water Institute of Southern Africa on SA’s wastewater crisis

Nearly half of South Africa’s wastewater treatment plants are in a critical state, with untreated sewage polluting rivers and dams

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
On precarious: The sight of dwellings built on a floodplain and thereby placing communities at high risk to life has become commonplace, as evinced by this scene in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga. Photo: GCIS
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Climate disasters: Time to return to basics

It is critical that municipalities prioritise the routine maintenance and upgrading of stormwater systems, bridges, roads and essential services

  • Zweli Mkhize
6 min read
Foul: Pigs root in sludge in Emfuleni municipality. (Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
CITIZEN SCIENCE

Unsafe water found in taps, water storage tanks across South Africa, citizen tests reveal

Scientists tested South Africa’s water. What they found was alarming: E. coli, sewage pollution and unsafe drinking water reaching directly into homes

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read