Day: December 22, 2022

PRETORIA, The Department of Water and Sanitation has urged the public to exercise extreme caution near bodies of water, as South Africa’s water levels rise due to recent heavy rainfalls experienced in most regions.

This follows the recent flash floods in Johannesburg, Gauteng, which resulted in some people losing their lives.

Department spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa, has called on communities to be vigilant during this period of heavy rainfalls, particularly those residing in floodplains or close to rivers, dams or streams.

“We have recently witnessed severe flash floods due to thunderstorms in Gauteng. We therefore appeal to community members to be extremely careful, especially those who reside close to bodies of water like dams, rivers and streams.

“This is also the jolly time of the festive season, when people will take their celebrations to places with water to cool themselves and for enjoyment. We also appeal to those people to exercise extreme caution, as we are experiencing rising water levels due to heavy rainfalls,” Mavasa said.

Meanwhile, the department said the rainy season has boosted water levels in the country’s dams, which were on a steady decline in recent weeks.

The weekly report issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation has indicated a sharp increase of water levels in the country’s reservoirs to 94.6% this week, compared to last week’s 91.6%.

“This is a huge improvement from last year’s 88.4% national average mark currently. Most of the country’s water supply systems have also steadily increased,” Mavasa said.

The biggest system in the country, the Integrated Vaal River System, which comprises 14 dams with catchments in four provinces, including the Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and North West.

The Kingdom of Lesotho, through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, has increased from last week’s 99.5% to 102.3% this week, while the Polokwane Water Supply System has also increased to 105.7% this week, compared to last week’s 104.7%.

Water supply systems in the Eastern Cape have improved significantly. The Butterworth Water Supply System is still at high levels with 100.3% this week, a slight improvement from last week’s 100.0%.

Amathole Water Supply System has also risen sharply to 102.8% this week, compared to last week’s 98.9%. Only the Algoa Water Supply System is still at a very low level, registering 15.8% this week.

“Some water supply systems in the Eastern Cape are at their high levels but stagnant. Klipplaat Water Supply System, which supplies the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, is at its full capacity of 100.4%, an improvement from last week’s 100.2%.

“Eastern Cape water levels have experienced a slight increase, with the provincial water storage level at 77.6% this week, up from last week’s 76.8%,” Mavasa said.

Mavasa encouraged residents to use water sparingly, particularly in Nelson Mandela Bay, which faces a serious challenge of taps running dry due to dwindling water levels in the water supply system if there is no positive response from water users.

“Despite figures showing an improvement in the Eastern Cape, it is known that the province is experiencing water supply challenges, particularly in Nelson Mandela Bay.

“We continue to make an appeal to the community of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the surrounding areas to double their efforts to reduce their water usage and to save water,” Mavasa said.

She also urged consumers to continue using water sparingly, “despite the reprieve provided by this rainfall season, which resulted in high levels of water in the country”.

Source: Nam News Network

Ghana sent its national security minister to Burkina Faso Wednesday to repair a diplomatic rift, after Ghana’s president accused Ouagadougou of hiring Russian mercenaries to fight militants.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with Burkina Faso’s interim leader, Army Captain Ibrahim Traore, Ghana’s National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah said they had a frank discussion that sought to clarify what Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said in Washington.

“We have reviewed the strong cooperation between our two countries and we have clarified to our mutual satisfaction recent reported discussions between Ghana and the United States with regard to the needed partnerships for sustainable peace in the region,” he said.

Speaking at the U.S.-African Leaders Summit in Washington last week, President Akufo-Addo accused Burkina Faso of hiring mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group and giving them revenue from a mine as payment.

Burkina Faso’s mines minister has denied the allegations.

Researchers say several African countries, including Mali and the Central African Republic, have recruited soldiers from the Wagner Group to fight insurgencies. They say Wagner, which is believed to have ties to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, is mostly motivated by the chance to enrich itself by securing lucrative natural resources.

Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, executive director of West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism, said Ghana’s concerns are legitimate because Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries do not have any track record of leaving sustainable peace in their areas of operations.

“We don’t think that these Wagner forces have that sense of legitimacy in terms of building structures that are sustainable to deal with the threats. We are not seeing any measures that are aimed at building local community structures and civil society and other groups that will strengthen these countries to deal with the problem on their own. We have not had any good example anywhere and so we are very worried that it will be used for other objectives and aims, especially when it comes to regime change,” he said.

In addition, Muqthar said Russia is hiding behind the operations of the Wagner Group to expand its political foothold in Africa.

“In reality, it’s an element of expansionist agenda interest in seeking to expand their interest and foothold in Africa. We are seeing that their space in Europe is shrinking and so they need to expand in other territories where they have an advantage. And they do have an advantage in West Africa in many ways because for several decades of Western engagements here a lot of people have developed some sense of fatigue. Things are not working the way they expected them to work. We’re seeing democracy retrogressing and so people are looking elsewhere,” he said.

For his part, Vincent Azumah, head of research and evaluation of the West African Network for Peace Building, said Ghana has taken a good move in order not to strain the relationship with its Francophone neighbor.

“While it is good for Ghana to raise concerns about the security of our northern borders with Burkina Faso and also to make everybody alert and to alert the world that it’s likely that this Wagner Group might want to have some incursion into Ghana, it’s also dangerous for us to now get the military elements in Burkina Faso to have some hatred for Ghana,” he said.

Ghana and Burkina Faso have generally had a steady and positive diplomatic relationship, thanks to cooperation in agriculture, water, trade, transport and security.

Source: Voice of America