Day: January 18, 2023

The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate will be doing planned work in the identified areas, which will result in water supply disruptions. The City sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused, but it is imperative that it maintains its water supply infrastructure to benefit its consumers. Read more below:

Wat residents need to know about planned water supply disruptions:

Please store water in clean sealed containers for domestic use during this period.

Please keep your taps closed to prevent any water loss and or damage when the water supply is restored.

Careful consideration has been given to the planning of this work to ensure it is being done at a time that is least disruptive to the water supply.

Zero-Pressure Tests

Zero-pressure testing is part of the installation process for pressure management technology. Tests are done to see if any unmapped inflows need to be considered before installing smart pressure-reducing valves.

Residents who live in the affected areas may experience low water pressure, and some may have no water coming out of their taps during this testing period. It is impossible to predict which areas or streets will experience disruptions.

This work forms part of the City’s Water Demand Management Strategy. Managing water pressure more effectively reduces the possibility of pipe bursts and water wastage. The affected areas are:

Burgundy Estate

This work will disrupt the water supply to this area on Thursday, 19 January 2023, from 21:00 overnight until 04:00 on Friday, 20 January 2023.

• Strand

This work will disrupt the water supply to this area on Tuesday, 24 January 2023, from 21:00 overnight until 04:00 on Wednesday, 25 January 2023.

• Sir Lowry’s Pass

This work will disrupt the water supply to this area on Thursday, 26 January 2023, from 21:00 overnight until 04:00 on Friday, 27 January 2023.

• Sonstraal Heights, Vredekloof Heights and Belami Ridge

This work will disrupt the water supply to these areas on Tuesday, 24 January 2023, from 21:00 overnight until 04:00 on Wednesday, 25 January 2023.

• Goedemoed, The Crest and Rosedale Estate

This work will disrupt the water supply to these areas on Wednesday, 25 January 2023, from 21:00 overnight until 04:00 on Thursday, 26 January 2023

The City sincerely regrets any inconvenience, but it is imperative that it maintains and upgrades its water supply infrastructure to benefit its consumers. Residents who experience continued outages after the tests are concluded can contact the city.

Water and Sanitation: General enquiries

• Telephone: 0860 103 089

• Email: water@capetown.gov.za

• WhatsApp: 060 018 1505

• SMS your fault to: 31373 (free SMSes do not apply)

Source: City Of Cape Town

MAKHADO – The police in Makhado seek public assistance in locating a 30-year-old woman, Ngoakoana Velma Ramonetha from Sekonye Village in Botlokwa who has been missing since 2021.

According to the information, on 18 July 2021 Ngoakoana Velma Ramonetha informed her sister that she was going to Louis Trichardt town but never returned home.

The matter was recently reported to the police on 02 January 2023 and a missing person file was opened. The investigators immediately commenced with investigation which revealed that the woman used to reside in Burger Street, Louis Trichardt town.

Police appeal to anyone with information of the woman’s whereabouts to contact Detective Sergeant Tshifhiwa Netshia on 066 263 4915 or the toll free crime stop on 08600 10111 or the nearest police station. Members of the community can also share the information via MySAPS app.

Police investigations continue.

Source: South African Police Service

The City of Cape Town has approved a seven-fold budget increase to upgrade pump stations and boost protection from load-shedding and illegal dumping into the sewer system. Big capital budget increases for sewer pump stations are planned under the Mayoral Priority Programme for water and sanitation, from R70 million in 2022, ramping up to R400 million in 2024, and R500 million in 2025. Read more below:

By June 2023, the City will have installed permanent generators at 110 priority sewer pump stations requiring generation capacity, with around 30 more ear-marked for installations. All 26 wastewater treatment plants already have permanent generators.

Cape Town has further installed early warning telemetric alarm systems at all 487 sewer pump stations to help detect faults.

As part of rapidly scaled-up budgets, over R100 million annually will go to generators and electrical maintenance to protect against load-shedding; screens to protect against foreign items in sewers; and security measures to combat ongoing theft and vandalism of critical infrastructure.

Major upgrades and refurbishments to priority pump stations across the City accounts for the remainder of planned annual budgets, set to exceed R400 million by 2024.

‘While we aim to end load-shedding over time in Cape Town, we are investing now to protect our critical infrastructure from the impact of sustained blackouts. Cape Town’s sewer infrastructure is under pressure from rapid urbanisation, and in need of upgrading. One of our first actions in office was to quadruple the City’s proactive sewer pipe replacement target, from 25km to 100km annually. Now thanks to an ongoing city-wide audit of the state of sewer pump stations, we are ready to massively ramp up budgets for upgrades. This includes protection from load-shedding, sewer misuse, theft and vandalism,’ said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

‘The City is stepping up both our pump station upgrade programme and our sewerage spill responsiveness. Interventions include more specialised vehicles, hiring additional personnel, and proactive clearing of the sewer system,’ said Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, acting Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

Besides resilience investments in pump station infrastructure, the City is improving operations by:

• Expanding operational teams responding to pump station failures and conducting manual switching over to generators

• Procuring more specialised equipment to enhance sewer spill responsiveness, including mobile pumps and trucks with jetting and vacuum capacity to clear spills

• Proactively procuring spares annually to shorten repair turnaround times

• Cutting procurement red tape through a new ‘framework’ tender in 23/24 that will allow for accelerated expenditure

Load-shedding has major impact on infrastructure

Due to the flat terrain in most of the metro, 70% of Cape Town’s sewer reticulation network relies on sewer pump stations.

There is a high risk of these pump stations backing up and spilling if load-shedding is longer than two hours, as pump stations are generally not designed with large sumps to “store” sewage during a power outage.

While the City has made significant investments in back-up generator capacity, this cannot be a final solution given the costs and high-energy demand of our facilities.

Generators also do not prevent disruptions entirely due to manual switching between supply systems. With sustained high stages of load-shedding, the switching can cause faults and often requires heavy manpower. Load-shedding may also impact on early-warning alarm systems, preventing operational teams from receiving fault alerts timeously.

Each pump station comes with its own set of specific engineering challenges that needs to be evaluated and converted to a detail solution design. For example, there is insufficient space for on-site generators in some cases, requiring alternative solutions.

The operating cost of generators is also extremely high – estimated to be R150 000 monthly per pump station. This increases for energy-intensive wastewater works, with diesel costs to run the Zandvliet plant for just 48 hours exceeding R1 million.

Plans to end load-shedding over time

Cape Town aims to provide at least four stages of load-shedding protection progressively over the next three years under the Mayoral Priority Programme to end load-shedding over time.

This is set to be achieved through various means, including:

• buying power on the open market, with the second phase of its major IPP procurement due to be announced soon

• paying businesses and residents to sell power back to the City

• incentives for voluntary energy savings under a new Power Heroes programme

• municipal generation projects such as Steenbras Hydro power, solar PV, and gas turbines

Source: City Of Cape Town

U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He pledged at a meeting Wednesday in Zurich to work together to resolve climate financing issues and keep the lines of communication open between the world’s two biggest economies.

Speaking to reporters at the start of their talks, Yellen said despite “areas of disagreement,” the two countries have a responsibility to manage their differences and “prevent competition from becoming anything near conflict.”

Liu said China was ready to work with the United States “to maintain dialogue and exchanges” and seek common ground.

Yellen’s face-to-face meeting with Liu was the highest-ranking contact between the two countries since U.S. President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali in November.

After the Zurich meeting, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said the two officials agreed that the U.S. and China would cooperate more on climate finance issues and work to support “developing countries in their clean energy transitions.”

Despite their pledge of cooperation, bilateral relations remain a concern for many U.S. lawmakers.

New House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California has identified the Communist Party of China as one of two “long-term challenges” for the House, along with the national debt.

“There is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting Communist China is over,” McCarthy told the House last week when the chamber voted 365 to 65 — with 146 Democrats joining Republicans — to establish the House Select Committee on China.

Last year, the Department of Commerce added dozens of Chinese high-tech companies, including makers of aviation equipment, chemicals and computer chips, to an export controls blacklist, citing concerns over national security, U.S. interests and human rights. The move prompted the Chinese to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.

Despite the conflicts, Yellen said she plans to visit China soon and would welcome Chinese officials to the U.S.

Both China and the U.S. are facing economic challenges.

China’s economic growth has slowed markedly in the face of its devastating coronavirus outbreak, while the U.S. is still grappling with the effects of its highest inflation rate in four decades although the increase in consumer prices has eased in recent months. In addition, the U.S. government is reaching its debt spending limit in the coming months, with great uncertainty in how Biden, a Democrat, will resolve the issue with the new Republican-controlled House.

The debt issue is of keen interest to Asia, as China is the second-largest holder of U.S. debt.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has hindered global economic growth, pushing the U.S. and its allies to agree on an oil price cap on Russia in retaliation, putting China in a difficult spot as it is a friend and an economic ally of Russia.

High interest rates globally have increased pressure on debt-burdened nations that owe great sums to China.

Zambia is renegotiating its nearly $6 billion debt with China, its biggest creditor. During a closed-door meeting at a U.S.-Africa leaders summit in Washington in December, Yellen said she and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema discussed “the need to address debt sustainability and the imperative to conclude a debt treatment for Zambia.”

Liu laid out an optimistic vision for the world’s second-largest economy in an address Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“If we work hard enough, we are confident that in 2023, China’s growth will most likely return to its normal trend. The Chinese economy will see a significant improvement,” he said. Last year, it grew just 3%, its second worst performance in nearly 50 years.

After her stop in Switzerland, Yellen travels to Zambia, Senegal and South Africa this week in what will be the first in a series of visits by Biden administration officials to sub-Saharan Africa during the year.

Source: Voice of America

Government has acknowledged the frustration of South Africans, due to a combination of factors, which have led to sporadic protests that occurred on Monday.

Government has urged for calm amid a series of sporadic protests reported in parts of the country on Monday.

In a statement, Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said government acknowledges the frustration of South Africans, due to a combination of factors.

“Government is alive to the issues related to the delivery of basic services, and calls for concerns to be raised in a peaceful and legitimate platform. During this difficult period, citizens, business, organised labour, wider social formations and government need to pull together to overcome the current challenges. We are a resilient nation and will overcome these difficulties that afflict us.”

Government said the Constitution guarantees the rights of citizens to embark on protests.

“However, it must be done responsibly and within the confines of the law. The destruction of property and the infringement of the rights of others cannot be tolerated. Such acts of destruction similarly add to our woes as at times they destroy the very infrastructure which is needed to allow the economy to grow,” the Minister said.

“The South African Police Services and law enforcement agencies will act against those who violate the law. Communities must allow the police to do their job, without any interference,” said Gungubele.

Government noted videos and commentary on social media that presents South Africa out of context and paints an erroneous image of the country. These videos are deceptive and have the potential to adversely harm the country.

“We all have a role to play to improve our country, and these harmful social media posts serve individual interests and not that of improving our beautiful country. Let us play our part in building our country by exercising our democratic rights responsibly,” said the Minister.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Minister Senzo Mchunu to assess the state of water and sanitation in Maquassi Hills and Dinokana villages in North West

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr Senzo Mchunu together with his deputies, Mr David Mahlobo and Ms Dikeledi Magadzi will on 19-20 January 2023, embark on a planned visit to the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality and the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the North West, to assess the state of water and sanitation.

The Minister and Deputy Minister will be joined by the Premier of North West, Mr Bushy Maape, CoGHSTA MEC, Mr Nono Maloyi, the district and local government leadership as well as Magalies Water Board.

In Maquassi Hills tomorrow on Thursday, 19 January, Minister Mchunu will visit the Leeudoringstad Sedibeng Pump Station, Tswelelang Reservoir and engage communities of Extension 13,17,18 &19 who have been facing water challenges for the past three years.

Later in the day, the Minister will lead a multi-disciplinary meeting with all relevant stakeholders to engage and seek solutions to water and sanitation challenges that are being experienced by residents in the municipality.

The last leg of the visit will be in the jurisdiction of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality on Friday 20, January 2023, and will involve assessing progress and receiving an update on the water supply interventions that are being implemented through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) granted by the Department. The Minister will also engage various stakeholders in the water sector.

Source: Government of South Africa

South Africa plans to conduct joint military exercises with the Chinese and Russian navies off its east coast next month, despite the Kremlin’s ongoing war on Ukraine. The opposition Democratic Alliance has slammed the decision, saying it means that contrary to its “neutral” stance on Russia’s Ukraine war, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has effectively sided with Moscow.

The China-Russia-South Africa drills, named Operation Mosi, which means smoke, are to take place off Durban from February 17 to 26.

While South Africa has held joint naval exercises with Russia in the past, in 2019, these latest ones overlap with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its ongoing war against Kyiv.

Pretoria has officially remained “neutral” on the conflict, refusing to condemn the Kremlin’s invasion in a U.N. vote last year.

But South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says hosting Russian warships shows the ruling African National Congress, or the ANC, has chosen sides.

Kobus Marais is the party’s shadow defense minister.

“While our government has claimed to be neutral, this is just another of many incidents where the ANC has clearly exposed their favoritism towards Russia and has in fact done nothing but to showcase and prove [the] government’s lack of neutrality in this case,” he said.

Marais says the South Africa of Nelson Mandela, once a beacon of democracy, risks losing its international standing by siding with what he calls “the most despicable autocracies of the world.”

Moscow’s invasion, the biggest in Europe since World War II, has been widely condemned internationally.

Western governments have hit Russia with diplomatic isolation and heavy sanctions and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine to defend itself.

Steven Gruzd, the head of the Russia-Africa program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, says South Africa’s hosting the drills risks its further isolation from the West while playing into Russia’s hands.

“Russia is trying to indicate that it’s not isolated internationally, that it has international military reach. And South Africa, by agreeing to hold these exercises, or going ahead with them, is feeding into that narrative that Moscow’s putting out,” he said.

South Africa’s African National Congress party has close ideological and historical ties to Russia under the Soviet Union, which backed its anti-apartheid struggle against white minority rule.

South Africa and Russia are also members of the BRICS group of leading, emerging economies, which includes Brazil, India, and China.

While many countries have shunned the Kremlin over its invasion, some nations, including those in BRICS, have not.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova was clear to VOA in her criticism of the scheduled military drills.

“And on South Africa, Russia, China military exercises, let me just ask you, what the army that is killing innocent people, the army of rapists and murderers, what can they bring to [the] South African army as added value?” she said.

Some analysts say the world is in a new cold war, with authoritarian nations China and Russia on one side and Western democracies on the other.

This conflict is increasingly playing out in Africa as both sides scramble for influence on the strategically and politically important continent.

South Africa’s Department of Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini tells VOA they will not reconsider the joint drills.

“I’d like to repeat that the exercise will go ahead with the two countries in South Africa in February. In relation to the military-to-military relations between these two countries and many others, which include the United States, where exercises have been held with each of those countries,” he said.

Despite pressure from Western governments, and visits last year by U.S. officials, Pretoria has continued to improve relations with Moscow.

South Africa in December received a sanctioned Russian ship that officials say was delivering ammunition ordered before the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor will on Monday host Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In August, South Africa will host the BRICS summit and has invited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to attend.

Source: Voice of America