Southern Africa City Studies Conference 2014

By on January 15, 2014 in Conferences, News

“The third Southern Africa City Studies conference will be held in Johannesburg from 27th to 29th March 2014. As a partnership between the Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies (CUBES) in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Witwatersrand and the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the University of Cape […]

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International Sustainable Built Environment Conference (ISBE)

By on January 15, 2014 in Conferences, News

The ISBE conference will address the latest research and developments in sustainable building design.The Following topic will be presented : Energy efficiency, renewable sources and high performance systems Water recycling, management and reuse Architectural practices, innovations and passive designs Materials recycling, reuse and manufacturing for efficient performance Urban planning for human comfort and mitigation strategies […]

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DST launches SA Bio-economy strategy

By on January 15, 2014 in Engineering news, News

“The Department of Science and Technology (DST) on Tuesday launched the South African Bio-economy Strategy, positioning bio-innovation as essential to the achievement of government’s industrial and social development goals. This science-based Bio-economy Strategy, which had been approved by Cabinet in November, would replace the National Biotechnology Strategy, which had been in place since 2001, creating […]

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Africa’s first aerotropolis in Ekurhuleni: will it foster economic growth?

By on January 15, 2014 in News

13 January 2014 – In September it was announced that an Aurecon-led consortium had won the contract to develop the Ekurhuleni OR Tambo Aerotropolis in Gauteng, South Africa. “The aerotropolis concept is now mainstream in aviation planning, and there is little doubt that it has brought substantial economic and social benefits to airport owners as […]

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Department of Transport to create road-incident databank

By on January 15, 2014 in Engineering news, News

  The Department of Transport (DoT) would investigate ways of ensuring a reliable statistical databank of road-related incidents, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said on Tuesday, stating that various potential stakeholders within government, the private sector and civil society would be consulted to map out an inclusive approach through which all role-players could contribute. “A reliable […]

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Protech starts new year with R255m in new contracts

By on January 9, 2014 in Engineering news, News

JSE-listed civil engineering and construction-related services group Protech Khuthele on Thursday said it had secured three new contracts collectively valued at R255-million. “Despite a persistently tough operating environment in 2013, Protech has added these contracts to the order book, reflecting the group’s long-term strategy of geographical and product diversification,” Protech CEO Antony Page said in […]

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Regional cohesion, energy security to aid Africa’s struggling manufacturing sector

By on January 9, 2014 in Engineering news, News

Africa is blessed with natural resources – key inputs to the manufacturing process. However, as is well known, the majority of these natural resources are exported to the developed world in their raw or semi-processed form, says Frost & Sullivan Africa industry…More

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Electricity consumption, production continued to contract in Nov – Stats SA

By on January 9, 2014 in Engineering news, News

The actual estimated electricity consumption and production decreased for the second consecutive month in November after registering a marginal uptick in September, a Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) report shows. The ‘Electricity generated and available for distribution’ report revealed a 2.4% year-on-year decline in the actual volume of electricity consumption and a 3.3% year-on-year decrease […]

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Energy fund approves $1m grant for Mauritian cooling project

By on January 9, 2014 in Engineering news, News

Development fund, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa), has approved a $1-million project preparation grant to support construction group Sotravic in the development and installation of a sea water air conditioning system in Mauritius – the low-carbon technology lowers building cooling costs by using cold ocean water.More info

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Construction for transport project under way

By on December 18, 2013 in Engineering news, News

The first phase of the Rustenburg Rapid Transport (RRT) system will be operational by 2015/16, following a R3.5-billion investment for the construction of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the integrated public transport system. The funding, which was awarded to the Rustenburg local municipality (RLM) in the form of a Public Transport Infrastructure Grant (PTIG), […]

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