By Siphosethu Stuurman
May 24 2013 (IPS)

With its youthful population, fast growing economies and an expanding middle class, Africa has much to celebrate on 25^th May, Africa Day.

This year Africa Day also marks the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.

When IPS Africa spoke to a few health experts we found out that advances in health, especially treatment of HIV and Aids are some of the areas we can celebrate this Africa Day.

We also heard what needs to happen over the coming years to make greater progress in the area of healthcare.

[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/ipsaudio/Africa_Leads_Fight_Against_HIV.mp3[/podcast]

South Africa is a country rich in culture and diversity but its Africa Day awareness seems to be lagging behind.

By Siphosethu Stuurman
May 22 2013 (IPS)

As the continent prepares to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on Africa Day, 25^th of May, IPS Africa speaks to ordinary South Africans to hear how they plan to celebrate this important day.

However the responses we received were rather disappointing.

Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the historic 1963 meeting of leaders of 32 independent African states to form the OAU, now simply known as African Union (AU).

[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/ipsaudio/SA_Africa_Day_Awareness_Lagging_Behind.mp3[/podcast]

Dr Theresa Moyo says there are increasing signs that Africa is taking gender equity seriously.

By Siphosethu Stuurman
May 20 2013 (IPS)

History was made last year July when the African Union Commission elected Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its chairperson, making her the first woman to lead the organisation.

Now as the continent gears-up to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the 1963 formation of the AU, then known as the Organisation of African Unity, IPS Africa spoke to a few leading women and gender activists to find out if women have equal status with men on the continent.

[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/ipsaudio/Gender_equity_a_work_in_progress.mp3[/podcast]

By Siphosethu Stuurman
Nov 6 2012 (IPS)

Caring for mentally and physically children is difficult any where in the world. In South Africa the situation is worsened by the fact that parents with handicapped children are stigmatized and some parents believe giving birth to a handicapped children is the result of witchcraft or punishment by God.

[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/ipsaudio/Parents_Find_Caring_for_Handicapped_Children_a_Major_Challenge.mp3[/podcast]

By Siphosethu Stuurman
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 2012 (IPS)

The cost of maintaining and expanding water infrastructure in southern Africa is high. And while South Africa may be in a better economic position than the rest of the region, it also faces funding challenges that are similar to those of its neighbours.

Getting water is a daily chore for this woman in Swaziland. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

But the situation is no different elsewhere in the region, according to Phera Ramoeli, Senior Programme Officer at the Southern Africa Development Community Secretariat.

“Effectively the region needs to do a lot of work in terms of improving its infrastructure, because water supply and sanitation are dependent on the availability of water as a source. But sanitation also affects the usability and quality of water if it’s not properly dealt with,” Ramoeli said.

He added that infrastructure, especially in the water sector, is expensive. “We do not always find enough financial resources to build new infrastructure, to maintain existing infrastructure, and to operate them in a way that is efficient,” he said.

Excerpts from his interview with IPS follow:

Q: What challenges do countries in the region face in terms of providing safe and clean drinking water to their populations?

A: We do not have adequate infrastructure to handle water and treat it to make it available to all our people in the region. Even with the infrastructure that does exist, we have a problem of operation and maintenance. By and large the population in our region is not commensurate with the level of infrastructure development that is required to ensure that people get the adequate water and sanitation that they need.

Q: How much of a role has climate change played in the region’s water woes?

A: Climate change is making things worse in the southern African region because we are a region that is characterised by vulnerability and change. In other words, water varies in terms of its availability in time and space.

Some parts of the region do not have adequate water or have very little water. The countries in the southwestern parts of the region are more water-stressed than those in the northeastern and some central parts, like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Climate change tends to exacerbate the water problems; so does population growth.

Q: How committed is the region to meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to provide adequate water and sanitation to all by 2015?

A: Efforts are being made to meet the MDGs. Some of the countries in the region have already achieved that but for only 50 percent of the population. The population does not remain stagnant as you try to achieve the MDGs, so the population still grows and it becomes an unreachable target. But of course that means we need to make more of an effort.

Q: Can you name a few of the countries that are well on track to meeting the MDGs?

A: It has been said South Africa is on target to meet the MDGs and maybe other countries like Mauritius, which already has 99 percent access to water and sanitation. Of course you have to look at the quality of that access, but by and large there are countries in the region that are set to meet the MDGs.

Q: Which countries are struggling to provide clean drinking water and sanitation for all?

A: We have a number of countries that remain poor in the region. Madagascar is a country that has been facing difficulties, and the DRC and maybe Angola – because the country was involved in a war that made things even worse. In those countries the backlog that they have to erode is much greater than the ones in other countries in the region.

The region is really trying its best to achieve access to water for all people. Of course it is something that is going to take some time, but it needs to be addressed urgently.

Excerpt:

Thousands of residents in Diepsloot, a large township north of Johannesburg, South Africa, are queuing for hours to access clean, safe water a week after their supply was contaminated by sewage.

Hundreds of residents in Diepsloot queue for hours to access clean, safe water. Credit: Siphosethu Stuurman

The contamination occurred when a contractor working on a nearby sewer line broke the water pipe that supplies Diepsloot. Though the damage was repaired, it is believed that E. coli in sewage contaminated the water supply. Residents here were warned by Johannesburg Water authorities not to drink water from their taps on Apr. 13.

However, a week after the incident, residents say there are not enough temporary water tanks to provide potable water for everyone in the township of over 150,000 people.

“Everything possible is being done, we have 65 stationary tanks and 12 mobile tanks for residents to use in the interim,” says Johannesburg Water spokesperson Millicent Kabwe, adding that each of the stationary tanks has a capacity of 5,000 litres.

However, community leader Scelo Shezi says the temporary tanks do not hold nearly enough water for the township’s large population.

“We were told that there is not enough transport to bring more water to the community…but there is a need for more water tanks,” says Shezi.

He says residents are quickly running out of patience.

“We are worried that people have had to wait in the queue for a very long time. It’s really a challenge, and we hope that it will be fixed very soon,” he says.

While only one district, ward 113, in the township seems to have introduced the “one family, one bucket system” after fights broke out because people where unhappy about the number of buckets individuals brought to collect water in, women and children with multiple buckets are often seen in long queues waiting their turn.

A frustrated Duduzile Ngema says that she has been waiting in the queue for almost the entire day.

“We don’t bath, we don’t wash… we have a big problem here in Diepsloot. They say that the water will come back, but we have been waiting for a long time. They told us that we can die if we drink the contaminated water and it causes diseases,” says Ngema.

She says that the situation is degrading, as residents are forced to find alternative means to relieve themselves. Ngema was hesitant to go into details, but she says resident are using buckets and, only when the water tanks arrive, they flush the waste away.

“It’s very difficult because the toilets need water to flush, so we are not going to the toilets, we just use buckets,” says an embarrassed Ngema.

Another angry and desperate resident, Thami Dlodlo, says that the water crisis has brought life to a standstill in her community.

“We can’t cook, we can’t bath, and we can’t do anything. There is no life without water, we need water, clean water,” says Dlodlo.

She says residents have been forced to buy water, but most are unemployed and cannot afford it. Diepsloot is an informal settlement comprised of government-funded brick houses, with running water and electricity, and shacks – assembled from metal zinc and wood – which do not have running water.

Families in the government houses have water metres and pay a subsidised fee. However, the poorer residents here cannot afford to pay for water, and use communal taps that provide free water across the township.

“Now we buy the water, from people that have cars, for 1.25 dollars a bucket. We buy it so our children can go to school, and for drinking. But we are not working… we do not have much money to buy water. It’s so difficult for us because we don’t even have water to drink our medicines with,” says a dejected Dlodlo.

In some areas in the township safe water has been restored, but Johannesburg Water says it is not possible at this stage to indicate when the water will return to all of Diepsloot.

Johannesburg Water has been criticised by South Africa’s official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, for its slow progress in restoring safe drinking water to Diepsloot.

However, Professor Akpofure Taigbenu from the Water Engineering Department at the University of the Witwatersrand says it takes a few days to restore safe, clean water after it has been contaminated.

“It takes a couple of days to restore the system, but six days is on the high side in my view. The key thing is to have a good network of water tanks for example; there must be a limited walking distance between where individuals use water and those tanks. If the walking distance is large, it puts a great deal of stress on the inhabitants,” says Taigbenu.

Johannesburg Water says that restoring safe clean water is a lengthy process.

“The complexity of rectifying this situation and the magnitude of the network, the flushing process, and the related engineering and scientific processes do mean it takes a bit of time,” says Kabwe. “The interventions implemented that stem from these processes have shown significant improvement in terms of quality so far, but they are not complying with national standards as yet.”

Kabwe also attributed the city’s water woes to ailing water infrastructure.

“Ageing infrastructure is indeed a challenge. Johannesburg Water has an infrastructure upgrade programme where we are upgrading water and sewer lines across the city. This is not a challenge we can overcome all at once, but Johannesburg Water is making progress in addressing critical infrastructure,” says the spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa says South Africa needs to invest 71 billion dollars in water infrastructure, services and demand management over the next decade. However the National Treasury has a budget for only 44 percent of the amount needed to upgrade South Africa’s water services.

By Siphosethu Stuurman
Dec 20 2011 (IPS)

Young people from across the globe gathered in Benin’s economic capital city of Cotonou to share their success and experiences in the agricultural sector with each other.

By Siphosethu Stuurman
Dec 19 2011 (IPS)

Young Beninese rabbit breeder, Samuel Agossou, inspired youth from across the globe when he shared his success story during the Global Youth Innovation Workshop held in Benin late last year.