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2022 KwaZulu-Natal Floods
In April 2022, days of heavy rain across KwaZulu-Natal in southeastern South Africa led to deadly floods. Particularly hard-hit were areas in and around Durban. At least 435 people died across the province, with an unknown number of people missing as of April 22. Several thousand homes were damaged or destroyed. Critical infrastructure, including major roads, transportation, communication, and electrical systems, were also impacted by the flooding, and this damage greatly hampered recovery and relief efforts. It is one of the deadliest disasters in the country in the 21st century, and the deadliest storm since the 1987 floods. The floods have caused more than R17 billion (US$1.57 billion) in infrastructure damage. A national state of disaster was declared. Background and meteorological history Owing to the effects of La Niña, South Africa has seen above-average precipitation in 2022. In January, many regions experienced their heaviest rains since reliable records began ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Météo-France
Météo-France is the French national meteorological service. Organisation The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operations have been decentralised to Toulouse. Its budget of around €300 million is funded by state grants, aeronautic royalties and sale of commercial services. Météo-France has a particularly strong international presence, and is the French representative at the World Meteorological Organization. The organisation is a leading member of EUMETSAT, responsible for the procurement of Meteosat weather satellites. It is also member of the Institut au service du spatial, de ses applications et technologies. It also a critical national weather service member of the ECMWF and hosts one of two major centres of the IFS numerical weather prediction model widely used worldwide. Worldwide In addition to its operations in metropolitan France, the agen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme
The Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme (previously named Braamhoek) is a pumped-storage power station in the escarpment of the Little Drakensberg range straddling the border of the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces, South Africa. It is about North-East of Van Reenen. Design The pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme consists of an upper and a lower dam apart and connected to a power station by tunnels. The power station uses 4 Francis pump turbines rated at 333 MW each, giving it a total rating of 1332 MW installed capacity. Construction Notable contractors included CMC Impregilo Mavundla Joint Venture and Concor on the dams. The scheme was built at a cost of US$3.5 billion ( R25 billion). Construction began in 2005 and the power station was scheduled to begin operations in late 2015. * The first two generators were commissioned March 2016. * The third generator was brought into commercial operation in August 2016. * The fourth and final one in January 2017. Detailed breakd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme
The Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme is an energy storage facility built in the South African provinces of Free State and KwaZulu-Natal starting in 1974 and completed by 1981. Four dams are involved in the scheme; the Driekloof Dam (''joined to the Sterkfontein Dam''), the Kilburn Dam, the Woodstock Dam and the Driel Barrage. Electricity generation equipment is located between Driekloof Dam and Kilburn Dam. Since the Driekloof Dam/Sterkfontein Dam also forms part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Project some of the water pumped to Driekloof Dam might end up flowing to the Vaal Dam and not be available for return to the Kilburn Dam. The Woodstock Dam and Driel Barrage are used to supply this additional water to Kilburn Dam when required. The scheme provides for up to of electricity storage in the form of of water. The water is pumped to Driekloof during times of low national power consumption (generally over weekends) and released back into Kilburn through four turbine generators in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eskom
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, and was among the top utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and sales, but due to the ANC and incompetence has since slipped in both categories. It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises. Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Matimba Power Station and Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa. The company is divided into Generation, Transmission and Distribution divisions, and together Eskom generates approximately ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydroelectric Dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power. Hydropower can provide large amounts of low-carbon electricity on demand, making it a key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel-powered energy plants. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kwazi Mshengu
Kwazikwenkosi Innocent Mshengu (born 10 November 1984) is a South African lawyer and African National Congress politician who served as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in KwaZulu-Natal until 11 August 2022 when he was replaced with Mbali Frazer by the new KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, and has also been a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature since May 2019. Mshengu is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress Youth League. Early life and education Mshengu was born on 10 November 1984 in Mooi River in the former Natal Province. He attended farm schools in the area for his primary education. In 2001, he matriculated at Dabulamanzi Combined School. In 2002, Mshengu started university at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and graduated with a bachelor of laws (LLB) degree. He also obtained an honours degree in policy and development studies at the university. In 2017, Mshengu received a master of laws (LLM) degree, also from the un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MTN Group
MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the 8th largest mobile network operator in the world, and the largest in Africa. Active in over 20 countries, one-third of the company's revenue comes from Nigeria, where it holds about 35% market share. MTN Group is the primary sponsor of the South Africa national rugby union team and sponsors English football club Manchester United and Zambian Super League. The Nigerian subsidiary of the group also has an existing sponsorship deal with the Nigerian Football Federation. History The company was founded in 1994 as M-Cell with assistance from the South African government. In 1995, it replaced its then-CEO, John Beck, with Robert (Bob) Chaphe and founder Leena Jaitley. In 2001, the company reported that its controlling shareholder was Johnn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include networks in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and Lesotho, and provides business services to customers in over 32 African countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon. History It was owned in a 50/50 partnership by the South African telecommunications giant Telkom and British multinational operator Vodafone. On 6 November 2008, Vodafone announced that it had agreed to increase its stake to 64.5%, and Telkom said that it would spin off its remaining holding by listing it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). On 1 April 2011, Vodacom officially unveiled its new change in branding from blue to red, using the same style as its parent company, Vodafone. Vodacom provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal
Verulam () is a town 24 kilometres north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and part of the eThekwini Metropolitan area. History In 1850 a party of 400 Methodists settled here and formed the town. The town was then named after the Earl of Verulam, patron of the British who settled here. Demography Verulam is inhabited mainly by people of Indian descent. The population is over 63,000. There are several primary and secondary schools catering for all races and all areas of the town. The town contains densely populated residential and industrial areas, which include a multitude of shopping centres, mosques, temples & churches. At the outskirts are large farming areas, several built-up townships, and rural townships. There has been slow but steady progress in modernising the town by providing adequate infrastructure to the rural areas. Geography Verulam is situated on the banks of the uMdloti River and on a gentle hilly terrain surrounded by sugarcane plantations to the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OThongathi
oThongathi (previously and popularly known as Tongaat) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about north of Durban and south of KwaDukuza. It now forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, or the Greater Durban area. The area is home to the oldest Indian community in South Africa, having been where the first indentured Indian laborers settled in 1860 to work in the sugar-cane plantations. Much of the architectural style in the town was the work of Ivan Mitford-Barberton, and many buildings are in the Cape Dutch style of architecture. History oThongathi was established as Tongaat in 1945 and its name was taken from the name of the uThongathi River which passes by the town: The name of the river, derived from Zulu, is said to mean In 2017 plans were made for the restoration of the historic railway station building. Name change In November 2009, the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality submitted a list of places in the municipality to the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sihle Zikalala
Sihle Zikalala (born 6 August 1973) is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2023, representing the African National Congress. Before his redeployment to the National Parliament, he had been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal and a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. He served as the 8th Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 2019 until his resignation in 2022 and as the Provincial Chairperson of the ANC, Provincial Chairperson of the African National Congress from 2015 to 2022. He has held various leadership positions in the ANC. From 2016 to 2019, he served as the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government. Early life and education Sihle Zikalala was born on 6 August 1973 in the town of Ndwedwe in Natal (province), Natal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
