The latest news about water shortages in various parts of South Africa posing a threat to people’s lives and livelihoods.
The latest news about water shortages in various parts of South Africa posing a threat to people’s lives and livelihoods.
Some Knysna residents have been without water for 14 days while several reservoirs, including the Khayalethu reservoir, undergo preparatory cleaning.
The forum will tackle water challenges, advocate for transparency and lobby for modifications of the current system.
Johannesburg’s water supply needs to be recognised for the emergency it is: the country doesn’t have R20-billion for an immediate fix, but putting the right people in place can put a brake to the distress.
Rand Water’s scheduled maintenance means no water for Jhb residents from this coming Tuesday night to Friday morning.
The water supply at the hospital in Johannesburg has been resorted following low water pressure since Thursday, 1 June. A senior clinician at the hospital described the situation as ‘inhumane’ and although the water supply has been restored, it still illustrates the poor state of public healthcare facilities in the province.
Helen Joseph Hospital has been struck by low water pressure since Thursday, 1 June. The situation has improved slightly, but the emergency, surgical and medical wards still don’t have an adequate water supply.
Urgent action is needed to address South Africa’s water supply vulnerabilities. Solutions must include closing the taps on leaks, addressing our power challenges, and ring-fencing water income for improving water infrastructure.
With their school already in a dire situation, with no working toilets, no water in the taps and no teachers for 250 kids, plus a dismal 2022 matric pass rate of 62%, angry parents closed the Middelande Senior Secondary School in Middelburg, Eastern Cape, on Thursday.
There is seemingly no end to the City of Joburg’s water troubles, after the knock-on effect of a power failure at one treatment plant once again left residents with dry taps this week.
The Nelson Mandela Bay metro braces for week-long water outages after two major electricity failures and a substation explosion.
While residents who rely on social grants say the cost of electricity and paraffin is prohibitive, a drop in the metro’s combined dam level to below 12% spells further misery.
Chris Hani District Municipality blames low revenue collection, ageing infrastructure, and rolling blackouts for water rationing.
A payment dispute between Quality Filtration Systems and Ndlambe Municipality has led to the closure of a desalination plant in Port Alfred, and the town’s residents are bearing the brunt of it.
‘The reality is that all municipalities struggle to provide water and wastewater services as soon as there is Level 4 load shedding,’ says Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell. The provincial government will release R89m in emergency funding to resolve water supply issues caused by rolling blackouts.
People who use excessive amounts of water in Nelson Mandela Bay can soon expect a visit from executive mayor Retief Odendaal. This comes as the city ramps up emergency measures while large dams fall to their lowest levels yet.
‘Load shedding combined with the water shortage in my area has completely obliterated my business’, says one small-scale chicken farmer who is shutting down as a result of power outages and water shortages in Nhlazatshe, Pietermaritzburg.
The Moqhaka Local Municipality in Kroonstad blames rolling blackouts for supply problems, as residents hand over a list of things that need fixing.
With temperatures regularly soaring into the high thirties and many visitors expected, the Cradock Business Forum has voiced concern about a decision to implement night-time water shedding on the eve of a busy festive season. This comes after officials said the town’s water reticulation had become ‘unstable’ due to high consumption and rolling blackouts.
Community members roam streets looking for water trucks. Municipality says there has been a major burst on the Summit-Chelsea pipeline.
Amid ongoing restrictions in Gauteng, experts have highlighted that water security in the whole of South Africa is under threat — a fact that has been known for the past two decades.
‘Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink,’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and you could say the same for Johannesburg and Pretoria.
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