Small South African fishing town’s R9-million solar-powered desalination plant offline for months

• The R9-million solar-powered desalination plant in Witsand, South Africa, has been offline for months due to alleged negligence by the governing municipality.
• The plant, which was Africa's first solar-powered desalination facility, was constructed during a severe drought in the region and was intended to supplement the town's water supplies from the Overberg Municipality and boreholes.
• The municipality's failure to maintain the facility has resulted in the solar power plant becoming inoperable, and residents are now relying almost exclusively on the Eskom grid connection for water supply.