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421 results
Industrial scale solar heat in South Africa: Opportunities in agri-processing and textiles
This report by GreenCape examines the potential for industrial-scale solar thermal energy in South Africa, specifically focusing on the agri-processing and textile industries. It identifies these sectors as high-opportunity areas due to their requirement for low-temperature heat (below 160 °C). While South Africa possesses high solar irradiation, the report notes that the solar thermal market is currently an 'infant industry' characterized by high capital costs, a lack of skilled installers, and restrictive certification policies. The document provides quantitative estimates of energy and carbon savings potential, analyzes financial drivers and barriers, and offers recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to solar heat.
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Document type: Report
Solar PV for businesses in the Western Cape
This 2017 industry brief by GreenCape examines the financial viability, financing options, and regulatory landscape for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations for businesses in the Western Cape, South Africa. It highlights the role of local government policy, decreasing technology costs, and electricity price increases in driving adoption across the retail, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors.
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Document type: Briefing
Watervoogdyskap: Só boer jy vooruit
This report summarizes an information session held by WWF South Africa on October 18, 2017, focused on water saving and stewardship for agricultural producers in the Western Cape. It addresses the critical water scarcity facing the region, the role of producers as stewards of shared water resources, and practical technological and biological methods to improve water use efficiency and mitigate climate risks.
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Document type: Report
South Africa’s 2nd Biennial Update Report
South Africa's 2nd Biennial Update Report (BUR-2) provides a comprehensive overview of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2000 to 2012, its mitigation strategies, and the financial and technical support received to transition toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy by 2030.
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Document type: Report
Builders' Rubble: Opportunities in Processing and Reuse
This briefing by GreenCape outlines the potential for processing and reusing builders' rubble in South Africa, highlighting road construction as a primary opportunity and emphasizing the necessity of regional operations to manage logistics costs.
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Document type: Briefing
Using a sector development agency to mobilize a local green economy
This case study examines GreenCape, a nonprofit sector development agency established in 2010 by the Western Cape Government in South Africa. The document details how GreenCape acts as an independent bridge between the public and private sectors to mobilize a local green economy, starting with a focus on renewable energy before expanding into water, waste, agriculture, and green finance. It highlights the agency's governance structure, its role in removing regulatory barriers, and its impact on investment and job creation in the region.
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Document type: Case study
Water: Facts and Futures
WWF South Africa's 2016 report 'Water: Facts and Futures' details the critical state of the country's water security. It highlights that while only 8% of land generates 50% of river flow, these Water Source Areas are under-protected. The report identifies severe threats from invasive alien plants, failing engineered infrastructure (with 37% urban water loss), and widespread pollution from sewage and mining. It calls for a 'Water and Sanitation Revolution' focusing on nature-based solutions, groundwater management, and decentralized service delivery to ensure equitable access to safe water.
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Document type: Report
Engagement in parenting programmes
This policy brief examines the barriers and facilitators to participation in parenting programmes in South Africa. Based on interviews with caregivers in Cape Town, it identifies low socio-economic status—specifically transport costs, hunger, and lack of childcare—as the primary structural barriers. Personal barriers include health issues and alcohol abuse, while programmatic barriers involve discomfort with group sharing. Facilitators include family support, a readiness to change, and the 'support group' nature of the sessions. The brief recommends house-to-house recruitment, the provision of shuttle services, childcare, and meals to increase engagement and return on investment.
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Document type: Policy brief
INTEGRATING THE INFORMAL SECTOR INTO THE SOUTH AFRICAN WASTE AND RECYCLING ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
This briefing note examines the role of the informal waste sector in South Africa's recycling economy and the potential impacts of mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). It highlights the significant economic value provided by informal waste pickers in diverting materials from landfills and proposes four integration scenarios to protect livelihoods while increasing recycling rates.
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Document type: Briefing
Utility-scale renewable energy sector – 2016 Market Intelligence Report
The 2016 GreenCape report details the growth of South Africa's utility-scale renewable energy sector via the REIPPPP, which procured over 6,300 MW. It highlights a sharp decline in wind and solar PV costs, the importance of local content requirements for industrialization, and the Western Cape's emergence as a greentech hub. The report also identifies expansion opportunities across the SADC region and other African nations like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, while noting infrastructure constraints at Eskom.
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Document type: Report
Water: Market Intelligence Report 2016
The Water: Market Intelligence Report 2016 by GreenCape identifies business opportunities within the green economy of the Western Cape, South Africa. It details the region's water-stressed status, the institutional framework of water management, and specific technological opportunities in desalination, water reclamation, and resource recovery. The report emphasizes the need for integrated water resource management to prevent water demand from surpassing supply by 2019 in the Western Cape Water Supply System.
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Document type: Report
South African Crime Quarterly
The June 2016 edition of the South African Crime Quarterly (No. 56), co-published by the Institute for Security Studies and the University of Cape Town, examines critical intersections of crime, justice, and social norms. The issue features research on the social barriers to policing domestic violence in Khayelitsha, the poor conditions within South African women's prisons, a methodology for measuring socioeconomic risk factors in high-murder areas, and the legal landscape of private prosecutions in Zimbabwe.
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Document type: Report
MANUAL IN TERMS OF SECTION 51 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000
This document is a manual produced by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) in December 2015 to comply with Section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA). It outlines the CER's role as a non-profit law clinic, identifies the Executive Director as the head for PAIA purposes, and details the procedures, fees, and categories of records available to the public for accessing information held by the organisation.
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Document type: Guide
REQUEST FOR REVIEW AND STRENGHENING OF THE NATIONAL DUST CONTROL REGULATIONS
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing various non-governmental and community organisations, submitted a request to the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs on 16 October 2015 to review and strengthen the National Dust Control Regulations. The CER argues that the current regulations are ineffective at alleviating fugitive dust emissions in mining and industrial areas, particularly due to an over-reliance on a 30-day monitoring average and the use of a 'crude' measurement method (ASTM D1739) that fails to protect human health.
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Document type: Statement
PAIA CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK SHADOW REPORT 2014
The PAIA Civil Society Network (CSN) Shadow Report 2014 evaluates the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in South Africa between August 2013 and July 2014. The report documents widespread non-compliance by both public and private bodies, characterized by high rates of ignored requests, failures to meet statutory deadlines, and a perceived shift toward government secrecy. It highlights the role of litigation in securing information and discusses legislative developments, including the Protection of Personal Information Act and the Protection of State Information Bill.
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Document type: Report
Renewable Energy – GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2015
The Renewable Energy – GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2015 provides an overview of the renewable energy (RE) landscape in South Africa, focusing on the utility-scale Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), as well as commercial, industrial, and residential small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). It highlights the role of the Western Cape as a hub for RE manufacturing and the critical need for an updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to provide investor certainty.
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Document type: Report
The Water Sector – GreenCape Market Intelligence Report 2015
The 2015 GreenCape Market Intelligence Report on the Water Sector provides an analysis of water resource management in South Africa, with a specific focus on the Western Cape. It details the governance framework, current infrastructure projects, and identifies seven key opportunity areas for private sector investment to address water scarcity and security challenges.
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Document type: Report
Proposed Greentech Special Economic Zone at Atlantis Feasibility Report
This feasibility report, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry and produced by GreenCape, evaluates the establishment of a greentech Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Atlantis, a suburb of Cape Town. The report concludes that a small-scale SEZ is viable, particularly if it focuses on manufacturing rather than services, and recommends a 'high road refurbishment' model as the most financially and economically attractive option to attract both large anchor tenants and smaller greentech firms.
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Document type: Report
The Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry
This research paper analyses the legal dispute regarding the Premier of the Western Cape's authority to appoint a commission of inquiry into police inefficiency in Khayelitsha. It examines the resulting judgments from the Western Cape High Court and the Constitutional Court to clarify the scope of provincial policing powers versus national competency in South Africa.
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Document type: Research paper
Domestic violence in South Africa
This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies examines the extent and nature of domestic violence in South Africa and the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (DVA). It highlights the discrepancy between official police statistics and community-based surveys, the prevalence of intimate partner violence and femicide, and the systemic failures within the police and court systems to protect victims.
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Document type: Policy brief