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Water Crisis

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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

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…

Water trucks parked at an empty water reservoir in Midrand.. Photos: Delwyn Verasamy

We are ready to turn the president’s National Water Action Plan into results

Deputy Minister David Mahlobo addresses public skepticism surrounding the National Water Action Plan, outlining the critical state of South Africa's water infrastructure and the…

Water trucks fill up and transport water to the reservoir Photo Delwyn Verasamy

South Africa's new water plan welcomed but experts warn implementation will determine success

South Africa's new National Water Action Plan proposes a significant overhaul of municipal water services to address the country's water crisis. While welcomed by experts, its…

Tardy Mogale City scurries to fix leak

Mogale City faces a severe water crisis due to persistent leaks, wasting millions of litres and taxpayer money. Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Jack Bloom has intervened,…

Ratanda water protest deaths a tragic result of poor governance

Two tragic deaths in Ratanda, a township south of Heidelburg, during a service delivery protest over water supply have sparked outrage and calls for reflection on South Africa's…

Unsafe supply: Qwa Qwa residents use river water to do their laundry. They also collect water from the river for their homes. Photo Delwyn Verasamy

No freedom without water

Across South Africa, communities are marking Freedom Day under the weight of an escalating water crisis, where unreliable supply, contamination and ageing infrastructure continue…

On the job: Maluti-a-Phofung municipal workers attending to electricity
connections in the area. Photo: Maluti-a-Phofung Communications

Thugs cut power, demand villagers pay

Criminals are allegedly extorting residents when the FS municipality fails to cough up for work they submitted claims for but that was never done

The Blue, Green and No Drop certification programmes are the department’s regulatory mechanisms to improve municipal drinking water quality, wastewater management, water conservation and demand management.

SA’s water crisis deepens: Nearly half of wastewater systems critical

The latest Green, Blue and No Drop reports show widespread deterioration of water and sanitation infrastructure. Nearly half of wastewater systems are critical, drinking water…

The DA launched a billboard poking fun at Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s recent gaffe about water shortages. Image: Democratic Alliance

Solly Msimanga: Jacob Zuma has handed the shower to Panyaza Lesufi

Launching a billboard that pokes fun at the Gauteng premier’s recent gaffe about water shortages, the DA said the ANC had lost touch with voters and would lose its majority in…

Water crisis: Residents of Johannesburg protest outside a Joburg Water depot against water outages that have been taking place in the city. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

What South Africans think of municipalities

Reports have highlighted that a significant number of elected councillors struggle with basic literacy and comprehension

DA leader John Steenhuisen.

‘GNU responsible for country’s success’, MPs say in response to Ramaphosa’s Sona

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said much of the progress made ‘bears the unmistakable imprint of the DA’s principled participation’ in the government of national unity

Along with crime, water has become the single most important issue for many South Africans. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Water crisis rivals crime as top concern for South Africans, Ramaphosa says

The government is moving to establish a national water crisis committee, intervene in failing municipalities and hold municipal managers criminally accountable for persistent…

The Special Investigating Unit has welcomed a Special Tribunal ruling declaring the R646 million contract awarded to AECOM SA (Pty) Ltd for the emergency upgrading of the Thukela-Goedertrouw transfer scheme in KwaZulu-Natal constitutionally invalid

SIU wins R646 million contract case, AECOM ordered to repay state

The matter stems from a project intended to prevent the Richards Bay area from running out of water. The contract value was inflated from an initial R407m

HANDS-ON: Johanneburg Mayor Dada Morero has been spearheading countless cleaning-up operations
around the City lately. Photo: Supplied

You don’t need a summit to clean a city; you need consistency

The people of Johannesburg have cried many tears over the past decade and become accustomed to temporary service delivery ‘solutions’

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

Opposition parties dismiss Lesufi’s State of the Province address as bluster without actionable plans

They criticised the Gauteng premier’s water and electricity solutions as misguided