Estate Living Magazine Invest SA - Issue 41 May 2019 | Page 37

D E V E L O P M E N T
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I N V E S T M E N T
rainfall, the sustainability of its water supply can be assured. In
addition to being water reservoirs, these dams offer the potential for
producing hydroelectricity. The Gariep Dam in the Free State has a
maximum capacity of 360 MW of power and a total storage capacity
of approximately 5,340,000 megalitres. Even more interesting is the
Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme, which includes four dams
in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.
This operates as an energy storage facility. Water is pumped to a high-
altitude dam during times of low power consumption and released
back down through turbine generators during peak demand.
Interestingly, this is not a new innovation – it was commissioned in
1974 and completed by 1981.
Waste
An escalating population and growing economy mean a growth
in the challenges of dealing with the resultant waste. Thankfully
the Department of Environmental Affairs has legislation in place to
ensure that waste is dealt with in a responsible manner – although it
is not always easy to enforce, and some local municipalities struggle
to keep pace. On the bright side, however, environmentally
responsible entrepreneurs are proving that ‘garbage’ can be a
resource, if properly managed. Most supermarket chains are now
either using recycled plastic for their carrier bags or have banned
plastic completely, such as many of the privately owned Spar
franchises – the Kloof SuperSpar, in addition to its ‘paper bag only’
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