Sewage has been flowing down the streets of all the suburbs of the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) every day, but the municipality has finally allocated a substantial amount to the upgrading of the water and sanitation networks.
In May 2018, the Herald reported on the concerns of the Ward 3 and 9 councillors, Alwyn van Tonder and Peter Dick regarding the Randfontein Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW).
“The sewerage network has deteriorated to the extent that untreated effluent is continuously flowing into the Tweelopiesspruit. I have sympathy with the people living along this stream all the way to Hartbeespoort Dam,” Alwyn said to the Herald.
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According to Alwyn, they reached out to Ina Cilliers, the DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Agriculture in the Provincial Legislature, regarding their concerns. They have also submitted several complaints and requests to have the WWTW brought up to standard and for the first time, the Office of the Mayor has responded.
“To address this concern, the RWCLM has been granted R50 million by the Department of Water and Sanitation and one of the conditions of the grant is that R20 million be utilised to refurbish the Randfontein WWTW,” he said.
“The upgrading of the plant is especially necessary if you take the development of the Afri-Village in Greenhills, where 4 000 units are being built, into account. More strain will be placed on the already non-functional Randfontein WWTW and the pollution will increase substantially.”
“I believe that almost 90 per cent of the plant is non-functional and I hope that the R20 million will be spent wisely. If they can restore the current plant it will already make a big difference,” he said.
On another note, Alwyn also said that the municipality’s proposed Basic Water Tariff levy of R532 for all businesses was reviewed. The merger of the municipalities in 2016 brought up a challenge of harmonizing the two municipalities’ Basic Water Tariff Fees. They agreed on a new Basic Water Tariff of R532 per month on all business accounts. The municipality proceeded with the implementation of the promulgated tariffs as of 1 July 2017.
“The decision resulted in an increase of more than a 100 per cent, specifically for the Randfontein business community. They have since then decided to evaluate each business and levy them according to a sliding scale. This review will be implemented retrospectively,” Alwyn said.
The new Basic Water Tariff levy will be based on the size and category of the business consumer and all businesses with an annual revenue above R64 million must pay the full tariff amount.
Business owners have until 31 December 2018 to hand in their applications for review and consideration at the municipality.
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