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FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

6th April 2018 Given the seemingly wet summer season for the eastern side of the country, some provinces may have been lulled into a false sense of water security and abundance. The reality is that South Africa – and not only the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape provinces – is a water-scare country.... →

Oversight opportunity not to be missed

By: Terence Creamer 30th March 2018 One of the few positives arising from the disastrous period during which President Jacob Zuma occupied the Union Buildings is the fact that it appears to have woken up Parliament, albeit belatedly, to the oversight role envisaged for it in the Constitution. As Institute for Security Studies... →

Eskom to cut electricity supply to Free State municipality

By: African News Agency 16th March 2018 Power utility Eskom said on Friday it was left with no choice but to intermittently cut electricity supply to Free State's Tokologo Municipality after debt repayment negotiations failed. ''After allowing the municipality a grace period to meet Eskom’s terms to settle its outstanding debt of R36... →

South Africa’s drought declared a state of disaster

By: Natasha Odendaal 13th March 2018 South Africa’s persistent drought has now been declared a national state of disaster under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, an elevation from the initial disaster reclassification issued in February. The declaration will mobilise technical and financial resources by all spheres of... →

There are many reasons that attribute to the growing water crisis in South Africa.

9th March 2018 Climate change and rising temperatures are making droughts more frequent and severe, with potentially devastating consequences for agriculture, water supply and human health. This phenomenon is already being observed in the Western Cape, with Cape Town currently facing the very real threat of... →

Drought crisis: Three provinces declared national disasters

By: News24Wire 14th February 2018 The national disaster management centre has called on organs of state to implement contingency measures to enable the national executive to deal with the drought in parts of South Africa. In a statement released in the government gazette on Tuesday, Disaster head Dr Mmaphaka Tau Tau said, after... →

Agricultural council sets up policy advisory committee on drought

By: Natasha Odendaal 13th February 2018 A high-level Section 7 committee has been established to consider the impact of South Africa’s prolonged drought, particularly on the agricultural sector, and to generate plans to mitigate its effects. The State-owned National Agricultural Marketing Council- (NAMC-) formed committee comprises... →

Water crisis in Cape Town could be declared a national disaster by February 14

By: African News Agency 8th February 2018 The drought in South Africa's Western, Eastern and Northern Cape provinces could be declared national disasters as early as next week, government said on Thursday. The announcement was made by members of a Cabinet task team on drought and water scarcity in Cape Town. →

De Beers eyes Zimbabwe, Congo after gaining South African permits

By: Bloomberg 6th February 2018 De Beers may follow its resumption of exploration for diamonds in South Africa’s Northern Cape by looking in the longer term at opportunities in countries like Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "I’m excited about what I’m seeing in Zimbabwe," said Phillip Barton, chief executive... →

Mining’s ‘flight of rebirth’ urgent, promotion of exploration essential

By: Martin Creamer 2nd February 2018 South African Deputy President and new African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa drew striking parallels between the renewal of the ANC and the tale of the rebirth of eagles when delivering the keynote address at the ANC Northern Cape conference in May last year. According to this... →

Solar steam powers homes – and new jobs – in South Africa

By: Reuters 12th January 2018 South Africa may still get most of its energy from coal, but in the country’s sunny Northern Cape province, a different electricity source is taking hold: solar steam. A Spanish renewable energy company has opened three thermal solar plants – which use the sun’s heat to create electricity - in... →

Coastal Clean-Up assists in educating public on responsible plastic use

By: Nadine James 8th September 2017 As part of the yearly initiative Clean-up & Recycle SA Week, taking place from September 11 to 17, industry body Plastics|SA says the yearly International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) day on September 16 is the highlight of the week, as it is the world’s biggest yearly volunteer effort for ocean... →

Heavy rainfall predicted in late summer, says water dept

By: Anine Kilian 6th September 2017 Although no heavy rains are expected at the beginning of the summer season, the South African Weather Services is predicting heavy showers towards the end of the period. “The good news is that the El Nino phenomenon that brings with it the drought, will not hit South Africa this summer,” the... →

Government certainty needed for successful shale gas exploration in South Africa

By: Anine Kilian 1st September 2017 Government must make a clear-cut decision on whether or not to proceed with shale gas exploration in the Karoo, University of Cape Town Institute of Marine and Environmental Law's Professor Jan Glazewski said on Friday. Speaking to Engineering News Online on the sidelines of a national shale gas... →

Murray & Dickson Construction Group breaks concrete boundaries

17th July 2017 This year’s prestigious Fulton Awards have again showcased the extent of concrete expertise and capability enshrined within the Murray & Dickson Construction Group, a leading and black-owned contracting company. This proficiency played a prominent role in the highly successful outcome of the... →

Murray & Dickson Construction Group breaks concrete boundaries

14th July 2017 This year’s prestigious Fulton Awards have again showcased the extent of concrete expertise and capability enshrined within the Murray & Dickson Construction Group, a leading and black-owned contracting company. This proficiency played a prominent role in the highly successful outcome of the... →

Grassroots shareholders celebrate black-controlled manganese mine’s R300m dividend

By: Martin Creamer 29th June 2017 Against the background of rising calls for radical economic transformation in South Africa’s mining sector, particularly transformation that benefits the country’s communities, grassroots shareholders of the black-controlled Ntsimbintle were last week able to celebrate the Northern Cape manganese... →

Highest number of Renewable Energy installations in SA

23rd June 2017 Specialist electrical contractor, Brand Engineering SA (Pty) Ltd, has carried out the highest number of utility scale solar Renewable Energy (RE) installations in the RE industry in South Africa. It has become a key construction partner for RE developers, and is responsible for the generation of... →

Grain SA starts aid initiative to assist farmers

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 9th June 2017 Grain SA has launched a drought aid project aimed at collecting at least 15 000 t of white or yellow maize from its grain-producing members to be distributed to livestock farmers over three to four months. This follows an initiative launched by a group of farmers in the Hoopstad area to raise... →

Sun shines on South Africa’s clean energy future

21st April 2017 Substantial ultra-violet radiation levels and excellent wind conditions have allowed South Africa to diversify its energy generation mix from one that previously relied heavily upon fossil fuels towards a national grid network that is now supported by “green” renewable energy (RE). In line with... →

Funding under way for revival of old Prieska zinc-copper potential

By: Martin Creamer 12th April 2017 Funding efforts aimed at reviving the old Northern Cape mining area endowed with significant zinc and copper potential are gaining momentum. Acknowledged as the host of one of world’s most noteworthy volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) base metal deposits, the Prieska area has a well-recorded... →

Situation critical as Western Cape remains driest province in country – Water Department

By: African News Agency 1st March 2017 The Department of Water and Sanitation was working with the provincial government in the Western Cape to “avert a total disaster”, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said two of the Western Cape’s rivers, Prinsrivier and Gamka, had completely dried up,... →

Northern Cape municipalities avoid Eskom power cuts after making payment plans

By: African News Agency 15th February 2017 Eskom has said that it would not be implementing power cuts to the Northern Cape municipalities of Ubuntu and Renosterberg that were scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Eskom had initialy announced that it would implement “scheduled bulk power supply interruptions” to defaulting municipalities... →

SunPower donates solar panels to power computer labs

6th February 2017 SunPower recently donated solar panels to Bottomup and Douglas SEDC, two nonprofit organizations leading social development and education initiatives in South Africa. Bottomup received 18-kilowatts of photovoltaic solar panels to help power its Parkwood Technology Centre, a community education... →

Interalloys Announces Investment Boost For Northern Cape Economy

3rd February 2017 UK registered Interalloys Trading Ltd, together with black owned business partner, Onicaster (Pty) Ltd, announced plans to invest $50m in the Northern Cape between 2017 and 2019. The latest investment aims to ramp up production at their Rooinekke iron-ore mine, near Griekwastad in the Northern... →

F4SD wants municipal officials fired for not paying Eskom

By: African News Agency 13th January 2017 Municipalities must fire officials responsible for failing to honour arrangements to pay their debts to Eskom, the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) said on Friday. “We are concerned that all residents,including those who pay for their electricity will be affected when Eskom starts to cut... →

Court dismisses Afriforum’s interdict, Eskom to cut off defaulting municipalities

By: African News Agency 5th January 2017 The North Gauteng High Court on Thursday dismissed with costs AfriForum’s application to prevent Eskom from cutting off power of more than seven municipalities who are billions of rand in arrears. This comes after AfriForum and AfriBusiness sought to interdict Eskom’s planned reduction of the... →

SA’s Class of 2016 improves pass rate to 72.5%

By: African News Agency 4th January 2017 Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced on Wednesday that the National Senior Certificate (NSC) class of 2016 had achieved a pass rate of 72.5% – up from the 70.7% in 2015. The 2016 pass rate includes progressed learners – those who had failed Grade 11 twice and been pushed through... →

Troubled Diamondcorp secures repayment standstill

By: Martin Creamer 19th December 2016 Troubled diamond mining company DiamondCorp is being given a repayment breather by South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The JSE-listed company, headed by CEO Paul Loudon, said on Monday that the IDC had agreed a loan repayment standstill until the completion of the... →

Results Of 2016 International Coastal Clean-Up For Cape Provinces Released

12th December 2016 According to the results of the 20th International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) that took place on Saturday, the 17th of September 2016, glass bottles and pieces and paper bags have taken over from PET bottles and bottle caps as macro pollutants on Cape beaches. Good turn-out of volunteers The ICC is... →

Four men jailed for one year for unlawful diamond mining in Northern Cape

By: African News Agency 1st December 2016 Four men have each been sentenced to one year in prison after they were convicted of illegal mining in Northern Cape, police said on Thursday. Spokesperson captain Philani Nkwalase said the four men were arrested in April for mining diamonds illegally on De Beers mining area in Kleinzee, a small... →

SENTECH Enables Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Migration

28th October 2016 Friday, 28th October 2016 marks the beginning of the Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) in South Africa. This major national milestone forms part of the country’s Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) process, and will begin in the Northern Cape within the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). This event will... →

Maximising Production Through Standby Power Generation Solutions

18th October 2016 Cummins has ensured uninterrupted power supply at Peninsula Beverages (PenBev) – a Cape Town-based independent bottling company that holds the rights to manufacture and distribute the products of The Coca-Cola Company within the Western and Northern Cape – after the successful supply,... →

Govt working on out-of-court charter settlement – Deputy Minister

By: Martin Creamer 5th October 2016 President Jacob Zuma has instructed the government to work hard to arrive at an out-of-court settlement on Mining Charter Three, Deputy Minerals Minister Godfrey Oliphant disclosed on Wednesday. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Oliphant said that the intention was to finalise the issue by the end... →

Jacobs Capital & Vulindlela Holdings Invest in Summit Crane Hire

21st September 2016 Durban based private equity investors, Jacobs Capital and Vulindlela Holdings, have purchased a majority stake in leading mobile crane hire company, Summit, for an undisclosed sum. The company, which is the market leader in the Western Cape and has a presence in the Eastern and Northern Cape, has... →

SA population balloons to 55.91m

By: News24Wire 25th August 2016 South Africa’s population is estimated to be 55.91-million of which 51% are female, according to Statistics South Africa’s mid-year calculations. Announcing the figures at a media conference in Pretoria on Thursday, statistician general Pali Lehohla said migration is an important demographic... →

SA farmers hope for enough rain after winter

By: Simon Sonnekus 5th August 2016 The next five months and the following planting season will be critical for farmers who have been affected by the devastating drought which crippled the agriculture sector recently. According to agricultural organisation AgriSA CEO Omri van Zyl, farmers need to see out the winter and hope for... →

Water Woes - Win a Water Tank with Engen

21st June 2016 Engen Petroleum, a leading producer and marketer of fuels, lubricants and oil-based products, has responded to South Africa’s water crisis in the drought-stricken provinces of Free State, Northern Cape, North West and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as in Lesotho. The average rainfall for South Africa in... →

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