DA sticks to its guns

The DA recently laid criminal charges against Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality in Carolina (Highvelder, 5 August) for polluting streams that local residents are dependent on for water.

The Highvelder sent enquiries to Mr Ken Robertson, DA MP and Political Head Chief Albert Luthuli Constituency, to establish the basis of the charges.

In his response Mr Kemp said he performed the investigation himself, after he had received numerous complaints from residents. In his statement, he said the investigation took a day to complete during which he drove around to all the sites where there were sewage spills and investigated the damage caused by them.

He said the people complained about the quality of tap-water and water reports indicated that the water was of foul odour, brown and sometimes grey in colour.

On whether he had informed the municipality about his investigation and findings, Mr Robertson said the municipality had been implicated in water- and pollution-related issues since 2012 and were not unfamiliar with the mandate given to them to preserve natural resources and to deliver clean, potable water at all times.

“From 2012 until now, water delivery in Carolina and Silobela has been a topic for discussion brought to the municipality by both DA councillors. It was out of desperation that people phoned me with reports that their countless complaints to the municipality had fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

When asked about the DA’s proposal for remedial action, he said the DA wanted the municipality and/or the judiciary to hold people in the relevant departments accountable for the violation of the National Water Act.

The municipality must rehabilitate the affected rivers and streams to make their water safe to consume again, but this must not be at the expense of the ratepayers of the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality, he said.

He also proposed that the municipality should conduct further tests to determine the full extent of the damage downstream from the town to Nooitgedacht Dam and the municipality should be held responsible to rehabilitate the streams.

Mr Robertson also said the DA proposed ring-fencing money in order to stop the municipality from cutting budgets and reducing working capital for this department. He also said they proposed an ad hoc committee with an even number of representatives from each party as well as from a local residents’ association that will be responsible for the investigation into why this negligence was allowed to continue for so long and by whom.

He concluded by saying the municipality should immediately educate the people to stop consuming water from the stream, as it is contaminated. Furthermore, the municipality must make contact with the Department of Health to source medication to treat stomach-related issues caused by this kind of contamination. The medication must be made readily available to local clinics and hospitals.

In its response to the allegations, spokesman for Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality Mr David Nhlabathi said they had received correspondence from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) to the effect that the DA intended to lay the charges about the alleged pollution. The municipality responded to DWS and is awaiting further communication.

Mr Nhlabathi denied the truth of the allegations and said the DA had never brought the matter directly to the attention of the municipality.

He added that there had never been any life-threatening cases of illness reported to the municipality. Sewer spillages reported to them are attended to.

According to Mr Nhlabati, the Carolina water treatment plant is fully functional and produces potable water meeting the required standards. Water samples are taken regularly for testing by the GDSM water laboratory, DWS and Waterlab and the results are available if required.

The municipality called on the DA to produce evidence of their allegations and assured the community that they could use the municipal water without fear.