When herd behaviour is used for selfishness, all you’re left with is a smug sense of entitlement, writes Charlene Naidoo.
Mostly sunny. Cool.
Despite welcome rains recently, the Eastern Cape remains in the grip of a terrible drought, and taps in Graaff-Reinet, home to 40 000 people, ran dry last year.
Some Tshwane residents will be left without water for at least eight months following torrential rains that caused devastation to a key pipeline, a report has said.
The water-scarce conditions in the Eastern Cape aren't only a threat to farmers, but are also compromising the country's food security.
Johannesburg residents have been urged to try to save water after the level of the Vaal Dam dropped to 53.1%.
Trudging home along a dusty street in the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, Sikhathele Ndlovu balances a 20-litre bucket of water on her head, a ritual she’s performed daily for almost a decade. Persistent drought on top of existing faulty piping means there’s little prospect of an end to her back-breaking trek to the communal borehole.
Two universities had to shut down due to a prolonged water shortage and a municipal strike.
Water trucks no longer deliver, and a project to install taps has stopped in Umkhambathini.
The City of Johannesburg says residents can officially breathe a sigh of relief as Rand Water wraps up its 54-hour maintenance.
Quality Filtrations Systems maintains that seawater feeding into the desalination plant at the V&A Waterfront is polluted by raw sewage from the Green Point outfall pipe and is sometimes up to 400% dirtier than specifications the City gave companies that tendered to build the plant.
Gift of the Givers spokesperson Imtiaz Sooliman says while the organisation maintained an amicable relationship with the municipality, the government edged it out of millions of rand spent during the height of the water crisis in Makhanda.
DA interim leader John Steenhuisen says President Cyril Ramaphosa should order premiers to take urgent action to counter the drought crippling parts of the country.
WWF-South Africa has hailed Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's national water and sanitation master plan, saying it highlights the urgent need to act for the benefit of South Africa's water future.
Parts of Gauteng, the North West, Free State and Mpumalanga could soon find themselves facing more water restrictions if current demands do not change, according to Rand Water.
The services of a diver have been procured to go deeper into the dam and release the valve that will allow for the right pressure to release water to Queenstown.
The City of Cape Town has asked the Western Cape High Court to dismiss legal action launched against it by the company that built a desalination plant at the V&A Waterfront.
When the drought set in, all citizens were requested to conserve water. This led to the CoCT not meeting their budgeted target as less water was sold. Next, the same residents were hit with severe water tariff increases to balance the CoCT budget.
Residents of Mahikeng in the North West have been urged to remain patient as the provincial government works toward reducing water cuts being experienced in the area.
Experts warn that the good rainfall in early June does not mean that the rainfall in the rest of winter will be good - or even average - and have urged that water restrictions remain in place.
Big companies may have funds to help address water challenges in Africa, but they must get community input in the process, says a Coca-Cola executive.
Although three years of low rainfall led to very low dam levels, there were breakdowns in the interaction between national, provincial and municipal government that exacerbated the problem.
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