While thousands of residents in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal struggle daily to get water, the Umkhanyakude municipality has squandered nearly R1-billion, some of it earmarked for water projects. Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu has slated the district municipality in a report leaked to The Times. Among the findings are that the municipality did not know the location of … [Read more...]
What is the state of environmental governance transparency?
Around 50% of the records requested from the Department of Environmental Affairs during 2015 were supplied to the Centre for Environmental Rights. The rest did not exist or were not under control of the Department. The Department of Mineral Resources released only 12.5% of requested records. The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has released its fifth report on access to … [Read more...]
Rural recycling project to receive upgrades
Most rural and semi urban areas in South Africa face challenges when it comes to implementing waste management and recycling strategies. These challenges include: Inadequate waste volumes generated to sustain recycling initiatives in small rural villages A lack of accessible markets for rural areas to sell their waste Poor municipal service delivery leading to … [Read more...]
Working together to conserve water
This year, National Water Week takes place from Monday, 17 March until Sunday, 23 March 2014. The National Department of Water Affairs have released the following key messages. Water is a scarce resource – let us work together to conserve it! Water scarcity is a global challenge that effects many regions in the world with Southern Africa being the hardest hit. South … [Read more...]
Drakenstein awarded for excellent water management
The Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, announced the 2013 winners of the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Sector Awards at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand on 18 October 2013. The Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WCWDM) Sector Awards, seeks to create a platform and an enabling environment for all role … [Read more...]
A political stalemate for the environment
Could climate adaptation be blocked by a political stalemate at local government level? “Local government is doing more than we think, but they are not doing enough,” said Lorena Pasquini (pictured), postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cape Town (UCT), in her lecture ‘Hot, or Not: Local Government and Climate Change Adaptation.’ Hers was the second in a series of … [Read more...]
SA municipalities commit to sustainable energy action
Over 45 representatives from national, provincial, and local government, research organisations, NGO’s and the private sector joined ICLEI Africa last month in Ekurhuleni to formally launch the start of the South African component of ICLEI’s flagship global project “Promoting Urban Low Emission Development Strategies in emerging economy countries,” or “Urban-LEDS.” Hosted by … [Read more...]
