Johannesburg – Oscar Pistorius’s emotional apology to the family of his dead girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, drew the most attention during his murder trial at the High Court in Pretoria this week.

This was according to information from media monitoring group, Data Driven Insight (DDI).

“I wake up every morning and you’re the first people I think of, the first people I pray for,” the paralympic athlete told the Steenkamps shortly after entering the witness box on Monday.

“I can’t imagine the sorrow and emptiness I’ve caused,” he said.

Pistorius’s apology generated around 23 912 articles within the hour that it was delivered, said the DDI.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year.

He alleged he had mistaken her for an intruder.

DDI said in the 24 hours ending at 14:00 on Friday, one of the topics that generated most online conversations was based on Pistorius’s conversation with presiding Judge Thokozile Masipa.

This was after Pistorius caved in after State prosecutor Gerrie Nel accused him of delivering evidence that differed to that he gave in his evidence-in-chief.

“It was a mistake… I’m tired, My Lady,” Pistorius replied in a monotone voice, keeping his eyes on Masipa.

She cautioned Pistorius that he “should be all here” and should tell the court if he was too tired to proceed.

Another topic of interest came about when Nel accused Pistorius of lying to the court.

The stern prosecutor was reprimanded by Masipa.

“You don’t call the witness a liar, not while he is in the witness box,” she said to Nel.

Globally, the United States gave the trial the most publicity, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom and then South Africa.

The data was compiled from 6.2 million social media platforms which included blogs, forums, social networks and commentary.

It also included data from 60 000 global online newspapers, 2 000 South African print publications and 66 radio and television stations.

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2014-04-11 22:31
Bloemfontein – Some households in the Mangaung metro could run out of water in the next four months if restrictions were ignored, lobby group AfriForum said on Friday.

“Bloemfontein would be without water by September. Botshabelo can run dry by August,” said CW Els of the Free State AfriForum.

The Mangaung metro municipality has not reacted to the claims.

Els said AfriForum had been trying to meet the municipality to compare information and discuss solutions, but the municipality could only meet the group in two weeks’ time.

“Residents have a right to know of the possible problem they would face in the future,” said Els.

Afriforum’s report on the matter contains a Government Gazette notice by the water affairs department of 14 March, announcing water restrictions that seemed to have been ignored by the metro.

The departmental notice installs a 15% restriction on residential and industrial water use in Mangaung, including Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu.

It restricts the use of water for irrigation purposes in the Modder River sub-catchment areas upstream from the Maselspoort Dam by 50%.

Regional water affairs head Nteliso Ntidi told local radio station OFM the 14 March notice was put on ice because the drought in the area had been broken.

Ntidi told the radio station that water affairs was now again investigating the water situation in the Caledon- and Modder rivers to decide whether water restrictions were necessary.

Els said questions should be asked why the unpopular decision of water restrictions for Mangaung had not been taken yet.

He said the situation was worrying because the main water source for Bloemfontein, the Rustfontein Dam, only had water, at the current usage rate, for 235 days.

“The Groothoek dam has only for 180 days from 26 March.”

Els said the Mangaung metro municipality had the lowest rainfall and the highest recorded water loss of all the eight metropolitan municipalities.

All Mangaung’s primary water resources were rainfall dependent.

Els said with the 2014 rainy season almost over for the area the issue needed urgent attention.

“The water levels in dams are quite low, and at the current usage rate water delivery is not sustainable until the next rainy season,” he said.

AfriForum indicated residents in the Estoire area, in Bloemfontein, had already been without water for five days on Friday.

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Johannesburg – The government had invested R12.45bn into the Mzimvubu Water Project in Tsolo Junction in the Eastern Cape, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

“This entails the building of the two dams, a hydropower plant at Laleni, bulk water distribution infrastructure and infield irrigation developments in the area,” Zuma said at the launch of the project.

Two dams will be build in the area, as part of the project.

“One in Ntabelanga on the Tsitsa River, which will be used for domestic and agricultural water supply requirements,” said Zuma.

The dam would become the tenth largest in the country and would store about 490 million cubic meters of water.

The Laleni dam would also be built and would be used for hydro-power generation.

“This dam has potential to generate 35 megawatts of base power or up to 180 megawatts of peaking power when operated jointly with the Ntabelanga Dam,” said Zuma.

The project would create about 6 700 jobs a year during the construction phase and 6 500 jobs a year during the operational phase.

It would serve about 720 000 households in domestic water supply.

“This is an important part of our efforts at equity and distribution , ensuring that we increase on the 95.2% people who now have access to clean water,” said Zuma.

The construction of the Ntabelanga dam would begin in November to be completed by February 2018, while work on the Laleni hydro-power scheme would start in 2016/17.

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