Pretoria - Environmental and Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has warned that government will crack down on people who make use of illegal water connections.

"We are strengthening our regulatory focus, and I must warn everyone that we are not going to stand by and observe individuals and institutions pollute our rivers and in some cases 'steal' the limited water resources we have," said the minister on Monday.

She said that government would act decisively to ensure South Africa's water resources are protected and legally utilised for the benefit of all.

Pretoria - The National Compliance and Enforcement Report (NCER), which provides an overview of environmental compliance and enforcement activities in the country, is to be released on Wednesday.

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica, will release the report in Pretoria.

It is expected to reflect the work of all environmental compliance and enforcement officials operating at a national and provincial level, with certain sections focusing particularly on the Environmental Management Inspectorate, or the Green Scorpions.

Pretoria - A Water Indaba in the Western Cape is to help develop an action plan to fast track water service delivery in the province, among others.

The two-day indaba, which kicks of today, is a platform created by Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica to discuss issues including climate change, drought and water regulation.

Pre-water indabas were held in the four Water Management Areas in the province with the relevant stakeholders to roll-up pertinent issues to be discussed at the today's indaba with the minister.

Pretoria - The re-established environmental courts, which aim to improve the conviction of environmental crime, are expected to be up and running in the next six months.

Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica said that the establishment of dedicated courts including dedicated prosecutors will have a profound impact on the fight against environmental crimes.

Sonjica said that a meeting between the Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe and her in September 2009 resulted in the decision to move forward with the process of re-establishing the courts to address many of the challenges experienced in effectively enforcing the environmental laws.

A renewed effort at increasing the uptake of domestic solar water heater (SWH) systems looks to replace 620 MW of electricity, to reduce carbon emissions by 2,7 million tons carbon dioxide and  create jobs and develop skills and manufacturing capacity.

Personal Experience
After recently having a domestic hot water geyser fail and investigating the potential of replacing it with a solar unit, I definitely saw the need for something different to advance the penetration of solar water heating in South Africa. While replacing my electric geyser costs R 5,500, an equivalent solar installation costs around R 25,000. Eskom, the state electricity generator, provides a subsidy of around R 3,000 and indicates a payback period is 5 to 8 years.

So why would one buy a solar water heater system? why not switch the electric geyser off periodically to save carbon, shower less or even put it on a timer?

Pretoria - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has urged individuals, businesses and community groups to "Vote Earth" ahead of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The Vote Earth Campaign is about urging world leaders to deliver a new climate deal which is fair and effective in keeping global warming as far below 2 Degrees Celsius as possible. The Heads of State will gather in Copenhagen on 7 December.

Pretoria - Parliament will this week hold public hearings on the political, economic and social impact of climate change.

The hearings, taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, are aimed at developing a comprehensive picture of how climate change is impacting on communities and ecosystems in South Africa.

Cape Town - In preparation for the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, South Africa is embarking on several programmes aimed at making sure that the country contributes positively to the debate on global warming.

"Ad hoc working groups on the Kyoto Protocol and on the Long-term Cooperation Action have prepared South Africa's position papers for the negotiations at Copenhagen in December 2009 including the post 2012 negotiations, stakeholders are being consulted on the positions," Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday.

Pretoria - The shortage of water in Africa will form part of key discussions at the week-long African Ministers' Council on Water Summit which kicked off in Johannesburg this morning.

The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), the initiator of the Africa Water Week, will focus its attention on establishing a sustainable roadmap on increasing Africa's water supply at the conference.

A reduction in the number of Africans without access to water is yet to be achieved.

The thirteen fresh water springs that bubble out of the rocks at the foot of table mountain are to be thanked as without them Cape Town may never have been established. The spring waters were central to the decision to establish a station at the Cape to supply the trade ships with fresh produce and water.

A great deal of research has been done on these springs by environmental planner Caron von Zyl and the Cape Town Partnership, it has been announced that they are looking to re-open these ancient springs and possibly tapping them, after centuries of sustaining Cape Town.

To the delight of the opposing people, the planned housing development below the Twelve Apostles on the historic Table Mountain have officially been CANCELLED! Cape Town's surveyor-general has at last, after 13 long years, stamped “cancelled” across the plans.

Pretoria - Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica will on Thursday launch a cleaning and greening pilot project in Mthatha.

The project forms part of the Eco Towns Pilot Project Buyisela and will, amongst other things, focus on cleaning, greening, waste management and river rehabilitation.