South Africa and Zimbabwe are discussing a $500-million dam project to supply water to an industrial hub near their border, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-africa-zimbabwe-in-talks-over-500m-dam-project-2026-09-28

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is embarking on a structured roll-out of a series of frameworks to strengthen the capacity of water service authorities (WSAs) to comply with regulatory requirements, improve the quality of retail water tariff proposals and enhance institutional performance monitoring across the water services sector. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/dws-to-roll-out-new-water-tariff-institutional-performance-assessment-frameworks-2026-09-28

South Africa’s stainless steel demand remains resilient, but tends to fluctuate, with customers focusing on maintenance, plant reliability and projects where corrosion resistance and life-cycle costs can be justified, says industrial materials and engineering products supplier EMVAfrica business development manager Bradley Klassen.https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/demand-remains-project-driven-2026-09-08

University of Johannesburg (UJ) estimates that 44% of South Africa’s fruit and vegetables are lost or wasted despite food insecurity affecting millions of households. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/systemic-approach-needed-to-tackle-44-fruit-veg-waste-rate-2026-09-16

Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp has assured farmers and farming organisations that government will work with the sector to prepare for potentially challenging conditions during the 2026/27 summer season, as an El Niño weather pattern raises the risk of below-normal rainfall and higher temperatures. https://biz-file.com/c/2609/821502-700×364.jpg?2

The City of Johannesburg says it has completed a project to clean up its act, which included restoring the Jukskei river catchment, urban cleanup, planting trees and installing a continuous hydrological monitoring network.https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/joburg-completes-environmental-cleanup-project-to-boost-climate-resilience-2026-08-27

The World Meteorological Organisation (the WMO) says the El Niño weather event is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with big impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns and associated risks of floods, drought and extreme heat. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/el-nio-set-to-become-very-strong-raising-risks-of-extreme-weather-into-2027—wmo-2026-09-03

The City of Cape Town’s New Water Programme is only expected to be fully operational by 2036, yet demand is expected to exceed the current dam water allocation in the next two yearshttps://www.bizcommunity.com/article/cape-town-desalination-plans-delayed-while-water-demand-soars-631351a

Food waste is creating opportunities for businesses to recover value from materials that would be sent to landfill, with environmental services company EnviroServ helping to turn waste dough into livestock feed.https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/waste-dough-finds-new-life-as-livestock-feed-2026-08-28

Africa’s food and water security, along with resilient local value chains – water, agriculture, processing – are no longer just development topics, they have become national and geopolitical priorities across governments and investors, said Business Sweden strategy and business development Middle East and Africa project manager Kudakwashe Koke. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/africas-food-and-water-security-now-national-and-geopolitical-priorities-2026-08-26