Klein Jukskei River a danger to the environment – concerned resident

Due to poor maintenance and its deteriorating state, the Klein Jukskei River is now a danger to the environment and the ecosystem.

This according to the chairperson of Chartwell Country Estate Conservancy board, Ben Jowitt who contacted Fourways Review about a sewage spill in the river which Joburg Water attended to a day later. “At present, the river is extremely in a poor state. There are multiple sewerage spills due to inadequate system capacity, poor maintenance, vandalism and illegal dumping into the system. This has resulted in the river becoming more of an open sewer than a pristine waterway with fish, bird and other wildlife.”

Jowitt explained that as a passionate and active conservancy area, the Chartwell community was particularly concerned about the regular ongoing spills. “The spills affect the entire eco-system all the way through to Hartbeespoort Dam and beyond.”

The chairperson reminisced and said, “As a young boy, my brother and I used to swim in the river and explore. Nowadays, the river has become an open sewer line with effluent everywhere. Rubbish, including sanitary pads which line up on the banks of the river. Not only are residents and the greater community unable to enjoy the benefits of the river anymore, we now actively avoid the area due to health concerns.”

He explained that they conducted regular coordinated clean-ups which are both community-based and are part of the A Re Sebetseng campaign, but believed that they will do little unless as a community the root causes were addressed.

Jowitt stressed that the ongoing damage to the river and its eco-systems were not sustainable. “We believe that we simply must try harder, do better, and respond to service delivery ‘challenges’ more quickly. This cannot continue without long-term damage throughout the river systems.”

He stated that there were currently three projects on the cards which were firstly, the promised R49-million upgrade to the Zandspruit pump station. “A tender was set to be issued early this year and as far as we know this has not been actioned as yet. The second one was a new sewer outfall line to be installed on the Western bank of this river as a long-term plan although environmental planning was underway.”

Jowitt expressed that although the new WWTW at Northern Farms site has apparently now been finalised, they believed that it is only scheduled post-2022 once the sizeable budget has been secured. “All three of the above projects need sanctioning urgently.”

He further stated that in the interim, proper maintenance of existing infrastructure was required and he believed that no additional developments should be approved or added to the line until a sustainable way forward has been concluded.

“Further, a full land audit of Cosmo City, Thabo Mbeki and Lion Park are needed to identify the actual number of residents per household. This is important to understand those that ‘contribute’ to the sewerage load on the Zandspruit pump station system,” he said.

“There is, unfortunately, a significant increase in backyard dwellings that have been added to the formalised houses in these areas which gives Joburg Water incorrect sewerage volumes which impact their planning.”

He explained that the Zandspruit pump station had been a problem for the past decade or more and believed that it has been under capacity for many years. “The increased load on the system and the poor preventative maintenance had contributed to the current state of affairs. The upgrade to the pump station was desperately needed and long overdue.”

He expressed that the authorities were dealing with huge maintenance and budgetary backlogs and fully as the conservancy, they understood and appreciated the challenges.

“The communities of Chartwell and Farmall are active and try and assist wherever we can. However, these communities can only do so much ourselves. We cannot continue to remain quiet while we witness the long-term destruction of our environment. We continue to work closely with the authorities but these numerous meetings must lead to actionable results.”

Isaac Dhludhlu of Joburg Water explained that the state of the river was dire and their team needed to go back to ensure the spillage is stopped urgently to preserve the environment and ecosystems. “This is regrettable and we have escalated the matter for attention by the depot. There is a procurement of a contractor to maintain the system as it is in an advanced stage as well and should be completed soon.”

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