Tony Carnie

Farmers in the Mpumalanga Highveld are resisting a plan to drill the area in search of gas. One farmer warned, ‘When the wetlands and pans have been polluted and nothing will grow here any more, it will be too late. No one will remember that some old man with white hair like me warned against this project… But someone needs to stand up, today, and say that this is wrong.’

On average, 26 rhinos were killed each month last year at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve. The killings have dropped to single-digit figures after an emergency dehorning programme.

In Kwazulu-Natal, a mere 3% of communal property associations – the legal bodies set up to represent land claimants – are compliant with basic legal

‘Happy birthday' is on hold as the reserve faces off a mining application, despite existing legal protections against prospecting and doubt that anything of value will be found.

Durban — the city with one of the highest rates of water loss in SA — will start squeezing the taps of residents from next week after receiving a directive from the national Department of Water and Sanitation to chop consumption by 8.4%.

eThekwini Municipality loses 54% of its water revenue to leaks, theft and unbilled consumption. Unless those leaks are plugged, the new water rationing scheme could continue until the construction of a new dam on the Umkhomazi River – in 2032.

eThekwini Municipality loses 54% of its water revenue to leaks, theft and unbilled consumption.

Faced with stiff monetary penalties at European airports, the aviation industry is pushing for a major ramp-up in the production of climate-friendly jet fuel. The South African synthetic fuels giant, Sasol, hopes to benefit from this increased global demand for ‘sustainable fuel'.

Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Narend Singh says his department is offering ‘input' to the NPA on criminal charges against agrochemical giant UPL regarding the environmental impact of a 2021 warehouse fire.

A second cabinet minister has driven another nail into the coffin of the controversial Karpowership electricity deal, declaring that: ‘For all intents and purposes, Karpowership is dead’.