Riverside a sewage wasteland

The pipeline over the Wonderfonteinspruit to the Merafong City Local Municipality’s Khutsong sewerage works leaks so much that virtually no sewage reaches the facility.
This pipeline, situated on a bridge over the river, is supposed to transfer the sewage from all the older parts of Khutsong to the plant. However, it is broken in several places, causing sewage to cascade from the bridge into the river and onto its banks.
To make matters worse, a section of the pipeline has been removed altogether.
In Monday morning’s extreme cold, some of the sewage from a part of the bridge onto a bush even froze, creating an unusual spectacle.
A concerned community leader from Khutsong, Mr Chucku Kerileng, pointed out how thieves, presumably zama-zamas, had started cutting into another part of the pipeline. The illegal miners are known to operate in the area of the bridge.
As if these leaks are not enough, sewage also flows into the river from manholes on Khutsong’s side of the river.
Over time, the numerous leaks have covered about 200 metres of the river bank on the side of the sewerage works in the remains of previous sewage leaks. Once it rains again, this waste will also wash into the river.
“This is an environmental disaster. The sewerage works have not functioned properly for years, and no one knows when they will work again,” Kerileng lamented.
On Tuesday, the Herald asked the municipality about the problems and when it planned to clean the pollution.
“The municipality will investigate and resolve the matter as soon as possible. The Khutsong sewerage works will function to capacity again once it has been refurbished; the municipality is awaiting fund approval,” the municipal spokesperson said.
The Wonderfonteinspruit flows into the Mooi River, the source of our neighbouring town, Potchefstroom’s drinking water.
The organisation AfriForum tested the Mooi River’s water in Potchefstroom last month and warned that it was infected with E.coli and other bacteria.