Women from across the continent have gathered in Johannesburg to discuss the role they can play in preserving the environment and fighting poverty.

The 4th Women and Environment Conference, which is currently underway under the theme "Towards a green growth path: Women at the forefront of poverty eradication", has attracted women from across the continent.

Oil company PetroSA will run out of water at its refinery in Mossel Bay by the end of October and may be forced to close temporarily.

It is not only the refinery that is running on empty. The town of Mossel Bay has between 97 and 126 days before it, too, runs out of water, municipal officials told visiting members of the Western Cape provincial legislature (MPLs) on Thursday.

Water prices for South Africans could in the near future quadruple as a result of the escalating pollution of the country's water resources by the country's mining industry.

"If we don’t find a special development where we can mine without affecting water resources, the prices of water will go up. Someone will need to pay for either the treatment of water or getting more water, and I believe that person is the consumer," said Koos Pretorius of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment.

A team of 100 women have undertaken to spend a year cleaning up the Luvuvhu River in Limpopo.

Addressing the launch of the Luvuvhu Adopt-A-River project in Tshishaulu, near Thohoyandou, on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, said R800 000 had been allocated for the initiative.

Mention the name Nelson Mandela and the world automatically pictures the iconic man who brought freedom and democracy to South Africa.

His selfless acts over the years have instilled a sense of humanity and compassion in the countless people he inspires around the world, reports Joburg.org.

 The provincial government plans to have 15 percent of all electricity used in the Western Cape generated from renewable energy sources - like wind, wave and solar - by 2014.

It also aims to reduce electricity use in selected schools and hospitals by between 5 and 10 percent, and to reduce the provincial product-to-carbon emission ratio by 10 percent, also by this date, as part of its climate-change mitigation efforts.

Police are probing cases of arson, intimidation and housebreaking following threats and alleged cases of intimidation of environmental campaigners who are challenging the construction of a luxury golf course resort in George.

The investigation was ordered by Premier Helen Zille's office.

As part of World Environment Day celebrations last Friday, Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Rejoice Mabudafhasi handed over a Buyisela Eco-Town project to the Mantsopa community in the Free State.

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has set aside R400 million for the Buyisela Eco-Towns programme that is being rolled out to 10 municipalities.

Johannesburg, 4 June 2010 – For the third time the Nedbank Group has found itself on the winners' podium at the annual Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards. The ceremony took place on 3 June at a gala dinner at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London.

South Africa's first Green Economy Summit ended with delegates calling for the development of green growth policies and regulations which support the development of clean technologies.

As part of the declaration, the 650 delegates - including international guests - resolved to put the brakes on carbon emissions and other forms of pollution that have proved to be a hurdle to green economy development. The summit, held in Sandton, ended on Thursday.

South Africa's State-owned power utility Eskom, which produces about one-half of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, is at "severe regulatory risk", nationally and internationally, from climate change, a newly released study asserts.

The 105-page report, entitled ‘Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities for the South African Economy', states that the greatest risk to Eskom lies in the introduction of carbon pricing, which could prove "financially crippling" to the utility.

Criminal charges over the pollution of the country's water supply were laid against three Cabinet ministers at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria on Friday.

After laying the charges, TauSA chairman Louis Meintjes said the organisation had been forced to approach the police after Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Mining Minister Susan Shabangu and Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica, had repeatedly failed to address the problem.