January 31, 2024.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lynne Davies.

Making headlines:

Trade begins under African Continental Free Trade Agreement

DA calls for parliamentary enquiry into eThekwini water crisis

And, Top health body says climate change behind Africa cholera surge

President Cyril Ramaphosa said today that the start of preferential trade will create great opportunities for growth and development for South Africa and many other African countries.

Speaking at the launch of preferential trade under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in Durban, Ramaphosa noted that the modalities for trade in goods has moved faster than for services.

Therefore, he said, there is a need for more effort in building African champions in finance, retail and telecommunications, and in expanding tourism between African countries.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement was initially set to launch in 2020 and was delayed for various reasons including Covid lockdowns.

Initially the agreement only applies to physical goods, including manufactured goods - such as farming equipment and processed foods - but is expected to expand to the services economy, tourism, e-commerce and logistics.

The Democratic Alliance says it is now crucial that Parliament step in and urgently convene public hearings into the continued water crisis in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as force the eThekwini Municipality to account for this disaster.

The DA will call for a full parliamentary enquiry by the Portfolio Committee for Water and Sanitation into the ongoing water crisis in eThekwini.

This follows its closed-door meeting with Umngeni-Uthukela Water officials to get a better understanding of the escalating crisis in the municipality.

DA Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation Leon Basson revealed that during the engagement, several worsening issues around eThekwini and the supply of water were laid bare, such as water losses to the tune of R144-million, which it cannot account for.

This, he said, translates to about 40% of direct water loss, exceeding the national norm. Other issues include a shortage of engineers, maintenance, and service backlog in the municipality.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent’s chief health advisory body, has tied the worst outbreak of cholera in three years to climate change, saying adverse weather is raising the risk of this disease faster than in the rest of the world.

That’s as floods in Democratic Republic of Congo — and across much of southern Africa — stretch already fragile health systems, limit access to safe water and sanitation and force people from their homes.

“Cholera in Africa is a climate change issue,” said Jean Kaseya, director general of Addis Ababa-based Africa CDC.

Outbreaks of cholera have swept across more than a dozen countries in the region over the past year, causing hundreds of deaths from rural Zambia to the outskirts of the capital of South Africa, the continent’s most developed nation.

The surge in cases comes even as Africa is the region least responsible for climate change, but one of the hardest hit by adverse weather caused by a warming world.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on the X platform, at the handle @PolityZA