Latest news with #JabulileMbatha
Eyewitness News
4 days ago
- Health
- Eyewitness News
EC govt estimates R88m needed to repair healthcare facilities damaged by recent floods
Jabulile Mbatha 16 July 2025 | 12:58 Eastern Cape residents in Mthatha left destitute following flooding in Mthatha on 11 June 2025. Picture: Jacques Nelles/EWN JOHANNESBURG - The Eastern Cape government says it will need an estimated R88 million to repair hospitals and clinics damaged by the recent floods. The Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department (COGTA) in the province has confirmed that 63 facilities were damaged by the inclement weather. This comes exactly 36 days after raging floods ripped through the Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi and Sarah Baartman municipalities, with the OR Tambo and Amathole districts being the hardest hit. READ: Eastern Cape flooding death toll rises to 103 COGTA MEC Zolile Williams provided an update on disaster response management and recovery operations in Mthatha on Wednesday. He said the estimated amount to deal with overall damage to all infrastructure in the province stood at R5 billion. This as home, roads, bridges, school and healthcare facilities were completely damaged. Williams said that health facilities were some of the worst-affected buildings. "Repairs will cost approximately R88 million, and immediate repairs have commenced in some of the affected health facilities, and primary healthcare has continued to reach the most affected communities." Khumalo said that technical teams had now concluded the assessment and verification of damage to infrastructure across the province.
Eyewitness News
6 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
A travel revolution that combines luxury, sustainability and rural upliftment
Jabulile Mbatha 14 July 2025 | 10:01 The first ever Glamping Expo at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. Photo: Supplied JOHANNESBURG - Entrepreneur and activist Gugu Sithole is using glamping as a force for good, creating eco-friendly stays in overlooked parts of South Africa while uplifting local communities. Sithole launched her glamping journey, Glamping Adventures, in 2019 after noticing that less than 5% of the country's population engaged in domestic tourism, largely due to high costs, limited access and the exclusion of rural communities from the tourism value chain. Glamping Adventures offers a combination of packages, one being a fully furnished mobile tent with a bed, carpet, side table and flowers among others. The tents are set up in different tourist destinations around the country. The second package allows travellers to choose a destination of their choice, such as at a resort, but have Glamping Adventures draft up an itinerary. 'I wanted to create a company that would get as many South Africans travelling their own backyard,' Sithole said. Her model emphasises working with rural communities, ensuring locals are not just observers but participants as guides, hosts, artisans, and entrepreneurs. 'Most people in these communities are spectators in tourism. I wanted them to be at the centre,' Sithole explained. Sithole said at its core, glamping was about eco-conscious travel, prioritising sustainable materials and low-impact structures such as geodesic domes, eco-pads and elevated tents which protect local biodiversity and preserve cultural heritage. 'We're taking less from the environment, preserving our flora, fauna, and cultural artefacts. Glamping is regenerative tourism; it gives back while letting travellers immerse themselves in South Africa's beauty.'She recently hosted the first-ever Glamping Expo at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority and Southern African Tourism Services on 20- 21 June 2025. Sithole said this was important to have exhibitors across the country come together, 'once we are coordinated and a cohesive unit, then we're able to influence government in terms of helping us with making it easy for infrastructure development, for roads leading to the glamp stays'. The event attracted over 20 exhibitors such as Impi Canvas Tents, Canvas Republic, Picnic in a Bubble and Tlhari Travel. It brought together eco-resort developers, innovators, tour operators and destination marketers, among others. On display were glass domes, pyramid lodges, eco-cabins, alongside panel discussions by industry experts, workshops by finance specialists and an innovation competition for high school and university students on glamping ideas to pitch. One of the unique exhibitors was 'Picnic in a Bubble', offering transparent pop-up domes for a stylish like Tlhari Travel offered glamping-inclusive packages paired with unforgettable experiences from Kruger Shalati - Train on a Bridge, to low-cost, pitch-your-own glamping options for budget-conscious travellers. Sithole's mission took centre stage at the Expo, where pioneers in sustainable tourism came together to present a greener, more inclusive future for travel. 'It's about sustainable ways of travelling and taking less from the environment, using structures that are off-grid and using less electricity'.
Eyewitness News
22-04-2025
- General
- Eyewitness News
Turning trash from the Jukskei River into art
Jabulile Mbatha 22 April 2025 | 8:23 An Alexandra resident collects waste from litter traps in the Jukskei River that be transformed into art. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN JOHANNESBURG - One of the fondest memories Sipho Gwala has of growing up in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, is playing by the Jukskei River searching for crabs. As a child, he was told crabs had money inside of them, a myth that motivated him and his friends to fish for the fable he was told as a child led to his interest as an adult when he learnt that crabs were indeed known for "consuming trash found in water" and being the "sea cleaning creatures", scientifically known as scavengers for their ability to consume dead organisms and said he worried that crabs could not be the only ones cleaning this river when he partnered with the Alexandra Water Warriors, a community-run environmental organisation focused on cleaning the Jukskei River, among other Jukskei River is the longest river in Johannesburg, spanning over 300km from the city into the Crocodile River, which then drains into the Limpopo River and ultimately the Indian the community of Alexandra, it was once a stop on a tour-guided route but with the deterioration from the pollution, it has become an eyesore. CEO of Alex Water Warriors, Semadi Manganye, said: "We live in an area where water is scarce and our river suffers too, with all the dilapidated infrastructure, sewage ends up in the river which is where we come in; we want to clean these spaces make sure we preserve them for future generations." The Alex Water Warriors found a unique way to clean the Jukskei River by incorporating the use of litter traps, handwoven by members of the Kula Marolen Foundation, another Alex-based organisation. The traps are made from plastic materials that are found in the river, recycled and reused. By profession, Gwala is an artist and his part in the project is making art to exhibit alongside the river. Gwala is part of a group of other Alex-based artists who use the recycled materials found in the river to create art, like sculptures. One of those artists is Rejoice Malete, who sculpted a human-sized rodent and mongoose from tyres thrown away in the river. She was also part of the team that made a mosaic, something she said she did not know she could has only been a resident of Alex for two years, forced to move after the loss of a family member. She said: "When I moved, I could not find a school for my child who has special needs, so I've been involving him in my projects which require handwork and it's been fulfilling knowing he is learning new skills."Yesterday the launch of a partnership led by environmental artist and scientist, Hennelie Coetzee, who works with Alex Water Warriors and the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership (JICP). JICP CEO, David van Niekerk said: "The three-year initiative is aimed at revitalising the Upper Jukskei River catchment through nature-based solutions that address flooding, erosion, manage urban heat, improve water security and enhance biodiversity protection, ultimately increasing climate resilience for over a million people." Researcher at Gauteng City Region Observatory, Dr Samikhsha Singh, said this recycling could offer the manufacturing industry the solutions of biodegradable material to use to avert a pollution crisis. She said: "If we are finding a lot of polystyrene in the river system, they come from food packaging and they very easily break down into smaller pieces, so what can we do to manage this, should we do something like swapping out polystyrene packing for more biodegradable stuff."Manganye said they hoped to get more partnerships of this nature. "We are trying to build that bridge between the ones that want, the ones that need with the ones that have."
