The easy, cost-effective way to catch grey water before it’s too late. Funneling down the drains of your house every day and night is one of the most valuable resources in the ongoing fight against high water-usage. It’s called grey water and it has a range of benefits, including reducing the need to use precious rain water and saving on household water bills. Grey water is highly usable for everything from watering the garden to flushing toilets. South Africa is a water-scarce country with water restrictions, high tariffs and fixed charges a part of everyday life. To manage water consumption,…
Author: Staff Reporter
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The Department of Water and Sanitation is sounding the alarm after multiple water treatment facilities in Makana have added to the Eastern Cape’s water crisis. A press release issued on Tuesday 12 February details plans for renovations at five municipal water treatment facilities as well as other plans to assist in sewage management and water shortages. DWS writes: “As per the dictates of the South African Constitution, the National Water Act and the Water Services Act, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is enjoined to ensure the security of water supply to all South Africans, domestic, industrial, agricultural, mining,…
A group describing themselves as Concerned Citizen representatives of the Makana isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English speaking communities, Richard Alexander, Ron Weissenberg, Ayanda Kota and Gladys Mpepo last Friday announced that a High Court Application would be initiated this month for the full dissolution of the Makana Council. In a media release, they said, “After years of discussions, protests and actions, 22170 people representing the Makana community delivered a petition to the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive. They requested the dissolution of Council in terms of Section 139 (1) (c) of the SA Constitution. This would mean the appointment of a temporary…
South Africa’s National Science Festival, Scifest Africa will be celebrating its 23rd anniversary event from 6-12 March 2019 in Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape. The theme for this year is “Discover Your Element”, which celebrates the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, as proclaimed by the United Nations. The theme also celebrates several anniversaries in the history of chemistry including the 150th anniversary of the periodic table’s creation by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, 350 years since the discovery of phosphorous, the categorisation of 33 elements in 1789 by Lavoiser’s and Döbereiner’s law of triads in 1829. While the…
Masicule celebrates its sixth birthday in the Guy Butler Theatre at the Monument on 24 and 25 February 2019. Get your tickets now (before they run out) to experience this goosebump-inducing show. Tickets are available from Fusion Foods (Pepper Grove Mall), Makana Tourism, Madhatters (High Street), Joza Music Hub (Joza), at the Monument, and online – www.tickethut.co.za/creativecity. Featuring nearly 1000 voices, Masicule encourages next-level collaboration that culminates in a mind-blowing evening that will amaze, invigorate, inspire and move you. Masicule 2019 features choirs and ensembles from Nombulelo High School, Ntsika Secondary School, Kingswood College, Victoria Girls’ High School, St. Andrew’s College, DSG,…
Violent protest action along the R61 between Libode and Ntlaza, near Mthatha and Port St Johns, on Wednesday 13 February prevented motorists from accessing the road and caused work on the R61 to come to a stop, SANRAL said. “The protest action, which started on Tuesday, was because of residents’ anger toward the Provincial Department of Transport for not surfacing a 48km gravel stretch, between St Barnabas hospital in Ntlaza and the Hluleka nature reserve near Ngqeleni,” Sanral said. Police had fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and teargas at hundreds of angry villagers and taxi operators around midday to quell…
Due to a shortage of capacity, Eskom implemented Stage 3 rotational loadshedding from 8am today and is likely to continue until 11pm. Customers are reminded to treat all electrical points as live during loadshedding. Stage 3 calls for 3000MW to be rotationally loadshed nationally at a given period. Loadshedding is conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout. We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in…
Eskom implemented Stage 3 rotational loadshedding from 8am today and is likely to continue until 11pm. Despite the generating units returning to service as planned, the emergency reserves (diesel and water) are still very low. Customers are reminded to treat all electrical points as live during loadshedding. Stage 3 calls for 3000MW to be rotationally loadshed nationally at a given period. Loadshedding is conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout. Eskom continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Switch off geysers…
Gadra Education will benefit from the sale of prints from a body of photographic work made entirely in Makhanda (Grahamstown), called the twist of a knee, 2018. Works by Makhanda-born artist and photographer CJ Chandler will be auctioned at the exhibition venue, Kowie Brake and Clutch in Dundas Street, at 8pm on Friday 15 February. The exhibition opens an hour and a half earlier, at 6.30pm and Chandler will conduct an artist’s walkabout of the exhibition the next day, Saturday 16 February, at midday. The twist of a knee, 2018, is a body of photographic work made entirely in Grahamstown/Makhanda. “The monograph attempts…
As part of accelerating land reform, government has identified land parcels owned by the state for redistribution, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday. “Strategically located land will be released to address human settlements needs in urban and peri-urban areas,” the President said. Delivering his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Cape Town, President Ramaphosa commended many South Africans who participated in the work of the Constitutional Review Committee on Expropriation of Land Without Compensation, in the dialogue that ensued through the length and the breadth of the country. The National Assembly agreed last year to establish an ad…