Pool Owners (and companies) Beware!
Did you know it’s illegal to let pool water run into the street? Swimming pool owners may only let the water from their pools run on to their own private property.
Pool Owners (and companies) Beware!
Did you know it’s illegal to let pool water run into the street? Swimming pool owners may only let the water from their pools run on to their own private property.
No water from any swimming pool may be discharged – directly or indirectly – into a gutter, storm water drain, watercourse, open ground, or over any road (all the run-off goes into storm water drains).
So if you know anyone with a swimming pool, or a company that services swimming pools, please remind them about this bylaw. More info: www.makana.gov.za/statutory-documents/by-laws
Healthy Environment – Essential for Human Rights
Human rights can only be observed in the context of a clean and healthy environment. The South African Constitution places environmental rights firmly within the context of human rights. Section 24 states: “Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.”
Future generations are not forgotten. Section 24 continues: “…have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that: prevent pollution and ecological degradation· promote conservation; secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources, while promoting justifiable economic and social development.”
We, and future generations, have a right to be protected from polluted air, water, soil and food.
And a right to be protected from conditions that would impact negatively on our well-being.
If people in this country cannot enjoy a reasonable quality of life, one is tempted to ask: “Has the government failed to take reasonable steps to prevent pollution, protect biodiversity, and adopt a sustainable approach to development?”
Good people, we need to stand up for our rights!
To report any environmental crime, call SAPS Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or the DEA Environmental Crimes and Incidents Hotline 0800 205 005.
Water Scarcity
Prophets of doom predict that World War III will be caused by water scarcity, and yes, sometimes it feels like that war could start right here in our little valley! So, before you open that tap and leave it running, think about other users. In Grahamstown, every drop counts!
Water is high on the priority list of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), bearing in mind how water scarcity issues impact on us.
MDG 1: Access to water for domestic and productive uses (agriculture, industry, and other economic activities) has a direct impact on poverty and food security.
MDG 2: Incidence of catastrophic but often recurrent events, such as droughts, interrupts educational attainment.
MDG 3: Access to water, in particular in conditions of scarce resources, has important gender related implications, which affect the social and economic capital of women in terms of leadership, earnings and networking opportunities.
MDGs 4 and 5: Equitable, reliable water resources management programmes reduce poor people's vulnerability to shocks, which in turn gives them more secure and fruitful livelihoods to draw upon in caring for their children.
MDG 6: Access to water, and improved water and waste water management in human settlements, reduce transmission risks of mosquito-borne illnesses, such as malaria and dengue fever.
MDG 7: Adequate treatment of waste water contributes to less pressure on freshwater resources, helping to protect human and environmental health.
MDG 8: Water scarcity increasingly calls for strengthened international co-operation in the fields of technologies for enhanced water productivity, financing opportunities, and an improved environment to share the benefits of scarce water management.
By 2030, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. Many of us will still be alive then… and thirsty!
Find us Online:
www.grocotts.co.za/environews
Contacts for Makana Enviro-News:
Nikki Köhly: n.kohly@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7205/
Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822/
Nick James: nickjames@intekom.co.za, 082 575 9781/
Philip Machanick: p.machanick@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8635/
Tim Bull: timothybull05@aol.com, 076 289 5122/
Rod Amner: r.amner@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7123/
Gill Rennie: g.rennie@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7122, 073 245 1922.
