The stream at the corners of Raven Road and Greenhills Avenue, dubbed the Greenhills Stream by the Herald team, is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The Herald has reported extensively on the poor condition of the stream due to pollution finding its way into the water.
On a recent site visit to the area with DA ward councillor Peter Dick to investigate reports of a terrible smell emanating from the stream, the Herald was shocked to discover that the water had turned a sickly white colour and that the smell of sewage mixed with a strong chemical smell pervades the air.
A brown oily substance is also floating just under the white surface of the water.
Just as in previous recent visits to the site, ot a single living thing is to be seen in the area.
According to Dick, this is the worst he has ever seen.
“This once beautiful and serene place is basically destroyed,” says Dick
“I cannot understand how our municipality can allow this.
“Our municipality is trying to get a green drop certification, which is a good thing.
“But not if they cannot control what goes into our storm water systems and streams.
“This has been going on for a long time and instead of doing something concrete about it, they opt just to handle the problems as they come along.”
Officials from the Waste Water Department at the Randfontein Local Municipality was contacted, but they were also stumped, saying that they had no idea what might have caused the discolouration or the strong smell.
Watch this space for more as this story develops.
