Joburg’s ward committees have collapsed — residents forced to govern themselves
Illustrative image: Johannesburg Skyline (Photo: iStock) By Anna Cox – 22 February 2026 Residents’ committees have replaced ward committees in Johannesburg, deepening inequality. Joburg’s civic safety net has quietly frayed. At ward level, the city is meant to rely on its 135 ward committees, which are statutory bodies chaired by ward councillors and made up…
From the CT Concerned Residents Assoc
“We are encouraging all our residents not only to look up their new property values but also to factor in the increase in the fixed charges as this gives the full picture which the city hasn’t highlighted. As an example sent to residents: https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Forms,%20notices,%20tariffs%20and%20lists/Budget_2025-26_Advert_English.pdf All the current fixed charges are shown here. Look up the…
Cape Town homeowners urged to verify property valuations before April deadline
City centre of Cape Town, Table Mountain. Wikimedia Commons/Discott Chante Ho Hip – 23 February 2026 While the City of Cape Town’s valuation system is automated, verification is encouraged, said Storm MacLennan of Jawitz Properties. Cape Town property owners are encouraged to review their latest municipal property valuations. The City of Cape Town has released…
Residents urged to verify new property valuations amid rising municipal bills
Erin Carelse – 23 February 2026 Homeowners in the far south are reporting significant increases in their municipal bills following new property valuations by the City of Cape Town. Bas Zuidberg, chair of the Cape Town Collective Ratepayers’ Association (CTCRA) and also chair of the Noordhoek Ratepayers’ Association, said a social media poll the association…
The hidden impacts of AI data centres on water, climate and future power costs
A forest of power pylons outside the port of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. Questions are emerging on whether sufficient electricity will be available to power and to cool down digital data centres. (Image: Tony Carnie) By Tony Carnie – 10 Feb 2026 Data centres have a gargantuan appetite for electrical power. But many also consume large…
What is Table Mountain? A story of Deep Time
Cape Town’s beloved and world-famous Table Mountain in all its majestic beauty. (Photo: Supplied) By Don Pinnock – 23 February 2026 Geologist John Compton invites us to see the mountain not as a postcard peak, but as an ancient, ongoing process that can recalibrate how we think about time. He also wants Capetonians who live…
Fascism shattered Europe a century ago — and historians hear echoes today in the U.S.
Photo left by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout ©2024; photo right by Fotoarchiv für Zeitgeschichte/Archiv, 1935, via AP. Illustration by Neil Freese After the mass death and destruction of World War I, with their economies shredded by inflation and unemployment, Italy and Germany turned from democracy to dictatorships. UC Berkeley scholars see troubling parallels in contemporary…
Geothermal – a constant, clean power source deep within the Earth – could replace almost half of the EU’s fossil fuel power [Grist]
![Geothermal – a constant, clean power source deep within the Earth – could replace almost half of the EU’s fossil fuel power [Grist]](https://obs.org.za/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/13fc16d3-d20f-25b2-b3f1-4fa9767b1ac0-1024x768.png)
Photo by Joey Clover on Unsplash From Grist.org: If you’ve ever been to a hot spring or geyser or volcano, you’ve seen the future of energy. Earth’s innards are hot — really hot — and that heat sometimes bubbles to the surface. If engineers dig holes in these geologically active places, then pipe water…
BAN PLASTIC BAGS
Hallelujah. Greenpeace has joined the #breakfreefromplastic movement. Not against just the plastic bag, but against ALL single-use plastics pushed out by our South African supermarkets. Why? Because we’re getting bloody poisoned, that’s why 😡 PLEASE sign the petition (it’s a start 😬) and share 🙏🏼 >> https://act.gp/4qwMeFg