Christy van der Merwe
Christy van der Merwe is a former contributing editor for Engineering News Online and Mining Weekly Online. She graduated from Rhodes University.
SA lawmakers seek public input on climate change policy
14th January 2011 South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs has called for public input on the country’s draft climate... →
Minister to announce decision on digital TV standard ‘soon’
7th January 2011 Communications Minister Roy Padayachie would “soon” announce the decision made by Cabinet on the preferred digital terrestrial television... →
Smaller Sacu members should cut expenditure as revenue shrinks
6th January 2011 Well-planned, permanent expenditure cuts were highlighted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the most effective fiscal adjustment for... →
Davies sees SADC trade deal with Europe by mid-2011
5th January 2011 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was presenting a more unified front at the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with... →
Carbon tax could earn govt R82,5bn a year
4th January 2011 The South African government stood to collect some R82,5-billion a year in additional revenue from carbon tax, if a price of R165/t of CO2e (carbon... →
More companies adopting sustainability strategies – survey
9th December 2010 The number of companies worldwide with active corporate sustainability programmes is increasing, owing to growing pressure from regulators and a... →
ICT can play key role in reducing emissions
7th December 2010 The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) emphasised that information and communication... →
Renewable energy investors show strong interest in SA’s Refit opportunity
7th December 2010 South Africa’s Department of Energy (DoE) received 384 responses from renewable energy developers in response to a request for information (RFI)... →
Birth: The Conspiracy to Stop the '94 Election
6th December 2010 In this video clip, Peter Harris, author of the book 'Birth', speaks with Polity's Christy van der Merwe about his January 1994 appointment as the... →
Eskom calls for structured implementation of IRP2010
3rd December 2010 A more structured decision-making framework to ensure implementation of the second integrated resource plan (IRP2010), including the decisions on... →
SA seeks to mainstream climate change response, but obligations remain fuzzy
3rd December 2010 As the world settles into another yearly round of global climate change nego- tiations in Cancún, Mexico – without much hope for a legally binding... →
Cancun climate talks get under way, WWF says catch-up plan needed
1st December 2010 The yearly global climate change negotiations kicked off on Monday in Cancun, Mexico, with fewer political leaders present, and lower expectations... →
Inclusive approach key to SADC regional integration
25th November 2010 Deeper regional integration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would only be achieved if there was a sense of ownership on the... →
UNFCCC climate conference to be held in Durban next year
16th November 2010 The 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP17) would be held in Durban, from November... →
South Africa’s draft climate policy approved
12th November 2010 South Africa's draft national Climate Change Policy, known as the green paper, has been approved by Cabinet, and would be gazetted imminently,... →
Infrastructure key to improving intra-Africa trade and development
8th November 2010 The need for improving infrastructure throughout Africa to boost intra-African trade and bolster development was highlighted at the infrastructure... →
Eskom to publish grid-connection road map by year-end
3rd November 2010 State-owned power utility Eskom is in the process of compiling a connection capacity document to provide private power developers with improved... →
SA should not be 'obsessed' with joining Bric grouping
27th October 2010 South Africa should focus on boosting trade, not only among dominant emerging economies, but also within the rest of Africa and other developing... →
Quiet optimism sweeps the Southern African Customs Union, but questions linger
22nd October 2010 New optimism has emerged over the future of the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) after the member States celebrated the centenary of this, the... →
Sexwale urges engineers to share ideas on clearing housing backlog
20th October 2010 The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) would need to engage with construction companies if it was to meet the challenges faced by the sector and... →
WWF urges South Africa to be more sustainable
15th October 2010 South African government, private sector and civil society would need to work together to ensure that the value of nature and natural capital was... →
Sonjica and MECs set environmental goals
1st October 2010 In an attempt to step up service delivery, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Thursday signed a contract agreement with... →
Global organisation to support Sacu in customs reform
30th September 2010 Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) executive secretary Tswelopele Moremi has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with World Customs... →
Southern Africa infrastructure fund could speed up regional integration
30th September 2010 Setting up a fund to develop regional infrastructure could assist Southern African countries to speed up regional integration, as a lack of... →
SA partners with Denmark and Mexico to push for climate consensus
28th September 2010 A newly formed climate change ‘troika' urged developed countries to deliver on their pledges made in Copenhagen on ‘fast-start' financing to be... →
Cogeneration to feature prominently in IRP2010 – Hogan
13th September 2010 Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan on Monday said that cogeneration was expected to feature prominently in the second integrated resources... →
Newly launched atlas identifies viable sites for SA carbon storage
10th September 2010 Energy Minister Dipuo Peters on Friday launched the South African Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Atlas for the geological storage of carbon... →
Experts to compile report on extent of acid water problem – Sonjica
6th September 2010 South Africa has appointed an InterMinisterial Committee (IMC) to address the acid mine drainage (AMD) issue in the Western and Central basins of... →
Peters confident SA could reach 2013 renewable energy target
23rd August 2010 Energy Minister Dipuo Peters was confident that South Africa would reach the target of producing 10 000 GWh of renewable energy by 2013, as set out... →
DoE to complete renewable energy policy review by end of March
19th August 2010 The Department of Energy (DoE) was confident that the review of the Renewable Energy White Paper of 2003 would be concluded by the end of the first... →
SA should target 50% renewable energy by 2030 - WWF
17th August 2010 One-half of South Africa's electricity generation could come from renewable energy sources by 2030, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a... →
South African risk and vulnerability atlas launched
13th August 2010 The Department of Science and Technology (DST), with research done by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), on Friday launched... →
Media appeals tribunal should be abandoned, panel says
12th August 2010 The proposed media appeals tribunal (MAT) – as put forward in the African National Congress (ANC) National General Council discussion document on... →
New push to conclude fraught SADC-EC trade deal by year-end
11th August 2010 A recent Southern African Development Community (SADC)-European Commission (EC) meeting on the future of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)... →
Climate policy to go before Cabinet this month
3rd August 2010 South Africa's draft climate change policy, known as the green paper, would be submitted to Cabinet by the end of August, after which it would be... →
DoE making progress with SA energy plan – Peters
30th July 2010 The Department of Energy (DoE) is progressing with the development of the second integrated resource plan, or IRP2010, and remains on track to... →
SA business should investigate carbon tax implications
20th July 2010 South African companies must investigate the implications of a carbon tax, the details of which will be released soon, corporate law firm Webber... →
Leaders reiterate commitment to common vision for Sacu
16th July 2010 The leaders of Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) member states on Friday reiterated their commitment to a common negotiating position that... →
Revised energy efficiency strategy to go before Cabinet by year-end
12th July 2010 The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) has initiated a "comprehensive" review of South Africa's National Energy Efficiency... →
EU climate commissioner wants action on project financing pledges
30th June 2010 There are a "set of decisions on substantial issues" that should be tackled in the lead up to December's global climate change conference in Mexico... →
Nersa to publish revised energy efficiency regulatory rules by Sept
23rd June 2010 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has published a consultation paper on the revision of regulatory rules for energy efficiency... →
