Since end of 2018 the South African National Defence Force has made significant progress to resolve the Vaal sewage pollution crisis.
But now they cannot continue their work in rebuilding the collapsed waste water system until Goverment funds are released. This became known at a SANDF media briefing in Vanderbijlpark, with the organisation, Save the Vaal, saying that they are shocked to learn of the bureaucratic bungling
Since November 2018, the army has made progress in cleaning up the
dysfunctional Sebokeng Waste Water Treatment Plant, and a few of the other
sources of sewage pollution.
The army made presentations to Emfuleni, the
Department of Co-operative Development and the Department of Water and
Sanitation. National Treasury is apparently working out a funding model, but meanwhile the army is unable to continue until its budgeted funds of R873 million is
released. These funds will be used to purchase or hire specialised equipment
which is not available within the SANDF.
Major General Xundu of the SANDF appealed to the private sector to provide
funding or equipment so that the army can complete its work at Sebokeng Waste
Water Treatment Plant – a major source of ongoing sewage pollution in the Vaal
River.
It was also suggested that engineering expertise would be welcomed,
perhaps as part of a corporate’s social responsibility programme.
“This latest development could have been avoided. Emfuleni should have been
declared a disaster area as far back as June last year. The ongoing raw sewage
pollution in the streets of Emfuleni and in the Vaal River is an infringement of
human rights and contravenes The National Water Act and environmental
legislation. It is also of the scale of a national disaster and has impacted on
communities along the banks of the Vaal River from Vereeniging to Parys and
beyond”, said Maureen Stewart, spokesperson for SAVE the VAAL.
In a press statement Save says that since assuming partial administration of Emfuleni Local Council in June 2018, the Gauteng Premier and the Gauteng Department of Co-operative Governance
and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) team and Department of Water and Sanitation
have done little to alleviate the situation in Emfuleni, especially in terms of repairs
to the sewage system.
This, despite Save the Vaal’s 13 February 2018 court order against the Emfuleni Council to stop pollution of the Vaal River and to
come up with a funded plan to solve current emergencies and prevent another
crisis in the future.
“We postponed our court action based on promises made by Gauteng COGTA at
a meeting with senior officials in July when Save highlighted the emergency
repairs required. We were encouraged by this team’s commitment to deal with
these repairs swiftly and to implement short, medium and long term plans to deal
with the problems. However,
little or nothing happened until the arrival of the SANDF and no feedback
followed from COGTA while the raw sewage pollution continued”, said Stewart.
Again, SAVE instructed its legal team to return to court, when the Minister of
Finance made the welcomed announcement that the SANDF were to be deployed.
Stewart said Save the Vaal’s legal team is now finalising court papers and this time, there’ll be
no ‘wait and see’ approach.
Meanwhile it was said that Government is working on a module to fund the operation in the Vaal and that problems is not fereseen in funding coming through.
OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) on their turn said that they believe the military intervention should be supported because it was the first sign of hope in this crisis.
They feel that if the SANDF was sent there, the funding should have been arranged by now.
They added that Emfuleni’s sewage disaster is a human rights disaster, created by Emfuleni Local Municipality’s failure to provide basic service delivery.
A situation so bad that even the SA Human Rights Commission investigated the matter.
Parys Gazette has since last year reported extensively on the disaster of the sewage pollution of the Vaal Rivier and the effect it has, described as an ecological disaster.
