HAZYVIEW – The two sewerage pump stations in town have been out of order for almost 12 months, as photographic evidence indicates. Lowvelder directed several enquires to the office of the water and sanitation manager of Mbombela without any answer as to why this situation was allowed to continue.
In effect, a third of the town’s waste had been flowing into watercourses and ultimately into the river.
Water samples taken from the river at four locations in town in April this year indicated E coli levels well above the acceptable ones, according to the Dwaf guidelines at two points. This included a count of 240 000 micro-organisms/100ml downstream from the waste-water treatment works.
In light of the ongoing pollution and the fact that no attempts were made by the council to remedy the situation, the department issued a directive, dated June 18, whereby it was instructed to provide Dwaf with information on the remedial action that would be taken within a specified time frame, including how to remedy the effects of the ongoing pollution.
After a follow-up inspection on July 16, where it was found that the pumps were still broken, the department indicated that it would open a criminal case against Mbombela in terms of Section 151 (d) of the National Water Act, 1998. During the same time, the environmental services branch of AfriForum stated that it would conduct its own water-quality tests and proceed with a criminal case against the municipality for failing to prevent the large-scale pollution of an important water source.
Mbombela spoke about the matter for the first time this week when spokesman,
Mr Joseph Ngala stated that council was aware of the directive as issued by the department and that it was responding to this. He stated, “The pumps are being fixed. The department has been informed of the progress made thus far.
“We do not foresee any criminal charges against the municipality as the directive is being attended to.”
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