Greenhills Stream faces pollution onlaught
Greenhills Stream faces a serious pollution onslaught as the rainy season kicks off and it seems as if pollutors are bargaining on the rain to wash away the evidence.
The stream at the corner of Raven Road and Greenhills Avenue, which the Herald team dubbed the Greenhills Stream, is in the news once again for all the wrong reasons.
The Herald has reported extensively on the poor condition of the polluted stream.
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 chemicals pervades the air.
A brown oily substance is also floating just below the white surface of the water.
Just as on other visits to the site recently, there was not a single living thing in the area.
According to Dick, this is the worst he has ever seen.
“This once beautiful and serene place has been destroyed,” says Dick. “I cannot understand how our municipality could allow this.
“Our municipality is trying to get a Green Drop certification, which is a good thing, but first they must 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 address the problems as occur.”
Officials from the Waste Water Department at the Randfontein Local Municipality were contacted, but they were also stumped, saying that they had no idea what might have caused the discolouration and the strong smell.
Watch this space for more as this story develops.
