The City of Cape Town is set to unveil a multi-million rand park in the next few months, with officials saying the facility would become a "great inner-city park", similar to those in cities around the world.

And while attention in recent years has been almost exclusively focused on the park's R4.5-billion neighbour, the Cape Town Stadium, the Green Point Park is bound to lure Capetonians and tourists alike far into the future.

The Western Cape has an estimated five years of landfill space left, while waste generation in the City of Cape Town grows at an average of about 7 percent a year, the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning has warned.

Addressing delegates at the Waste Minimisation Summit this week, MEC Anton Bredell said the province's landscape had to be considered to best understand how the limited resources could be used to effectively manage waste.

The clean-up operation of medical waste that was dumped in Welkom was scheduled to start today, said the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Over 10 tones of illegally dumped waste will be removed from the Maximus Bricks site, a game farm in the magisterial district of Virginia and the Welkom showgrounds.

Late last year, used bandages, needles, vials and discarded pills were found buried in trenches in the area.

The Cape Winemakers Guild vehemently opposes all prospecting and mining in the Cape winelands.  Not only will the proposed mining activities destroy the UNESCO registered Bottelary Renosterbos Conservancy and the vineyards that attract large numbers of tourists to South Africa every year; it will also result in the loss of employment and income for a great many families working on the wine farms in these areas.

Food & Trees For Africa is looking for a Permaculture Programme Manager to start as soon as possible.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the ethics and principles of Permaculture, be effective communicators with polished editing skills and must have traceable references. Two years of managerial experience and computer literacy are vital. 

In addition, the applicant must have community development experience and an ability to work with corporates, NGOs, government and communities to facilitate constructive and successful interventions.

Please send resume to Ann by email to:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Pretoria - The Ekurhuleni Municipality has purchased a multi-million Rand dredging machine to rehabilitate its lakes, dams and wetlands which have deteriorated over time.

The Watermaster Classic III, which costs R7.5 million, is the first of its kind in Gauteng.

Known as the city of lakes, Ekurhuleni had faced numerous challenges with the state of its lakes recently.

Sun City - The Local Organising Committee (LOC) says plans to deploy medical response personnel on frequently used routes during the 2010 FIFA World Cup are underway.

LOC Chief Medical Officer Dr Victor Ramathesele told journalists on Tuesday that they were working with the government to ensure that incidents needing medical intervention are effectively attended to during the month-long tourney which starts in June.

A couple of month’s back I read an article titled ‘Sanitizers may boost bug growth’. Really? I am amazed, I thought, tongue in cheek!

This article was written about one particularly lovely bug that is thriving on an extremely strong sanitizer used in hospitals and the like, but I can't help experiencing a certain amount of amusement whenever I read these types of articles. Is the scientific arena worldwide living on a different planet to the rest of us? I ask because I think people with a couple of brain cells should have realised that we have come to the point of over-sanitisation.

At a public borehole in Zviyambe, a village in the backyard of Zimbabwe, approximately 250 kilometres away from Harare, the capital city, butterflies, goats, cattle and human beings mix and mingle in edenic fashion all in search of the precious liquid: water. Under a blazing sun, Sekai Mabika (not her real name) and her sister take turns to fill up buckets with water all the while shooing the goats away while the butterflies flutter hither and thither sipping at the water spilled to the ground and the cattle standby for their turn to drink water.

Pretoria - South Africa and Australia have signed an agreement that will frame future bilateral cooperation on climate change issues.

The letter of intent was signed on Friday by Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica.

The two nations have been cooperating on climate change matters under a Climate Change Partnership since 2006.

Pretoria - A Welkom farmer has been arrested in connection with the illegal dumping of healthcare waste at a disused Harmony Gold mine.

The South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Green Scorpions or Environmental Management Inspectorate arrested the man who is also the owner of a brick manufacturing company on Monday.

Pretoria - The deadline for Wasteman, the second-largest waste management company in South Africa, to stop operations at its Klerksdorp facility, has been extended.

Last November, the Department of Environmental Affairs' Green Scorpions found the Klerksdorp incinerator to be in contravention of many of its permit conditions.