Nelson Mandela Bay | savingwater.co.za

Drought threatens Eastern Cape industry

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 14 February 2011

The Nelson Mandela Bay metro, which is facing a critical water shortage, needs to raise more than R1bn to avert a potential economic disaster after the Treasury “indicated” it would not provide all the funding to alleviate the effects of a prolonged drought.

The drought threatens the government’s automotive production and development plan

Ali Said, the municipality’s infrastructure and engineering director, said last week the Treasury had indicated it would provide only R450m of a requested R1,6bn in aid or about 30% of the emergency funding.

The drought of more than three years threatens billions of rand in investment in the Eastern Cape’s industrial hub, including the government’s priority automotive production and development plan.

Water-intensive industries in the Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch area — including South African Breweries, Coca-Cola Fortune, Clover and Parmalat dairy products, chocolate maker Cadbury, and Sappi pulp and paper — have long reduced their water consumption by 25%. The Coega industrial development zone, Volkswagen SA and General Motors SA, which have between them pumped more than R10bn into the region, are also affected. Continue reading Drought threatens Eastern Cape industry

Shortage of water in Nelson Mandela Bay still critical

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 28 December 2010

The five dams supplying water to the Nelson Mandela Bay are still at critical capacity levels despite the area having experienced recent rainfall, the municipality said on Tuesday.

Churchill Dam

The Kouga, Churchill, [...]

Roll-out of 100000 solar water heaters resumes

Posted by: Yes Solar Cape (Cape Town, South Africa) – 15 September 2010

Three ground-breaking renewable energy projects earmarked for Nelson Mandela Bay with a combined investment value of more than R1-billion are on track, with at least one to start being implemented before the end of the year, top project officials have revealed.

Solar hot water. Evacuated tube installation.

They include the resumed roll- out of up to 100000 solar water heaters (high-pressure solar-powered geysers) to residents after the R900-million project was put on ice in June, as well as a proposed wind farm at Van Stadens consisting of up to 15 giant wind turbines, and methane gas harvesting facilities at the Arlington or Koedoeskloof waste disposal sites.

Because the three projects are being funded by ETA Energy Ltd – a subsidiary of parastatal the Central Energy Fund (CEF) – they are on track and unaffected by the Bay municipality’s cash-flow problems which has seen many infrastructure projects halted.

The three projects will see the metro catapulted to the forefront of attempts by cities around the country to minimise their dependence on energy provider Eskom and its steep annual price increases by “going green”. Continue reading Roll-out of 100000 solar water heaters resumes

Nelson Mandela Bay plans to secure groundwater

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 07 July 2010

Nelson Mandela Bay’s water crisis is not over yet, with its dams at a combined capacity of 34.8%, but plans are on track to ensure the city’s supply lasts until its desalination plant is completed [...]

Fragile ecosystems under threat of growing communities

Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 24 May 2010

How can communities develop economically and socially without damaging the fragile ecosystems they live in?

That was the primary question at a seminar hosted at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Friday by the national Department of Social Welfare, the UN’s Leadership for Environment and Development (Lead) programme and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Agathosma serpyllacea - coastal fynbos, Western Cape

The seminar is one of six set to take place over the next six months in preparation for the International Training Session on Population, Climate Change and Development Conference in Port Elizabeth, in October.

One of the speakers at Friday’s event, Schalk Potgieter, assistant director of strategic planning in the municipality’s human settlement unit, said the nexus of population development and critical ecosystems was a crucial one in Mandela Bay.

Five biomes or broad indigenous vegetation zones meet here and two, coastal fynbos and thicket, are particularly fragile.

These ecosystems are vulnerable to human development and also to climate change, which will likely result in rising seas and increasingly fierce and frequent storms – putting pressure especially on impoverished communities living on marginal land.

This can result in migration by “climate change refugees” and conflict, in turn, with people in the areas where they migrate to, and greater pressure on that land. Continue reading Fragile ecosystems under threat of growing communities

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Drought threatens Eastern Cape industry

Shortage of water in Nelson Mandela Bay still critical

Roll-out of 100000 solar water heaters resumes

Nelson Mandela Bay plans to secure groundwater

Fragile ecosystems under threat of growing communities

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