https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Podcasts RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

Daily Podcast – November 11, 2015

Daily Podcast – November 11, 2015

11th November 2015

By: Kimberley Smuts
Creamer Media Reporter

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

November 11, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Kimberley Smuts.
Making headlines:

The Department of Water and Sanitation will brief Parliament on the drought crisis today.

Advertisement

The United Nations says El Nino threatens 11 million children in Africa with hunger and disease.

And, Parliament will implement an interdict against striking workers.

Advertisement


The Department of Water and Sanitation will brief the portfolio committee in Parliament about the status of the drought in South Africa today.

The department is expected to reveal its strategies and interventions in response to the drought and the disbursement of relief to provinces.

This comes as the country faces a burgeoning water crisis that had depleted many municipalities and the agriculture sector since last year.

Earlier this month, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said an estimated 6 500 stand-alone rural communities were experiencing water shortages, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West provinces.

She said this number could increase to more than 11 000 rural communities as local water reserves depleted and the dry period continued.

 

Some 11-million children in eastern and southern Africa face hunger, disease and water shortages as a result of the strongest El Niño weather phenomenon in decades, the United Nations children's fund (or Unicef) said yesterday.

Unicef said the consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities received support.

El Nino, caused by Pacific Ocean warming, had caused drought in several parts of Africa, including Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The worst affected country was Ethiopia, which had the second largest population in Africa and was suffering its severest drought in 30 years.

Unicef added that some 350 000 Ethiopian children had severe acute malnutrition and were likely to die without therapeutic feeding.


Parliament will implement a five-year-old interdict against striking workers today, in a bid to force them to take their protest action outside the precinct.

Speaking on the third day of the strike in Parliament yesterday, secretary Gengezi Mgidlana said the interdict, obtained during similar strikes in 2010, outlined that protests had to take place outside the Parliamentary premises.

This was so that proceedings at Parliament were not disrupted.

Hundreds of Nehawu employees downed tools on Friday over various issues, including the payment structure of bonuses and vetting of staff. These included committee secretaries, content advisors, cleaners and communication liaisons.

Mgidlana said Parliament would not allow the business of committees and the House to be disrupted.

He said they had not yet abandoned engagements with Nehawu, but were intent on making sure that work continued.

 

Also making headlines:

There is no water in several parts of Johannesburg, apparently due to water levels dropping in reservoirs.

The African National Congress  and the Democratic Alliance will be fighting it out for Ward 16 in Tshwane during by-elections to be held in the city today.

And, Inkatha Freedom Party calls for probe into the government’s response to drought.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter[@PolityZA]
That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now