Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
municipal infrastructurelatest news & developments
Of the 848 wastewater treatment plants assessed nationwide, 396 are in a critical state, while only about a quarter are performing at a standard that meets regulatory requirements. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
ARTICLE

‘We have the skills but not the system’: Water Institute of Southern Africa on SA’s wastewater crisis

Nearly half of South Africa’s wastewater treatment plants are in a critical state, with untreated sewage polluting rivers and dams

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
On precarious: The sight of dwellings built on a floodplain and thereby placing communities at high risk to life has become commonplace, as evinced by this scene in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga. Photo: GCIS
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Climate disasters: Time to return to basics

It is critical that municipalities prioritise the routine maintenance and upgrading of stormwater systems, bridges, roads and essential services

  • Zweli Mkhize
6 min read
Foul: Pigs root in sludge in Emfuleni municipality. (Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
CITIZEN SCIENCE

Unsafe water found in taps, water storage tanks across South Africa, citizen tests reveal

Scientists tested South Africa’s water. What they found was alarming: E. coli, sewage pollution and unsafe drinking water reaching directly into homes

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read