MODIMOLLE – A TANKER from Isando in Johannesburg containing 28 000 litres of sulfuric acid was on its way to Zimbabwe when it overturned in Thabo Mbeki Drive in Modimolle last Saturday.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated, but according to CCTV footage the tanker skipped a red traffic light just before it overturned.
//
Herewith a clip of the Accident caught on our CCTV. 28 000lit of Sulphuric Acid spilling into the Nile
Posted by Outthere24 on Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Allegations have been made that there is evidence that the truck did not comply with the necessary legislation for transporting this chemical, and this is being investigated.
According to DA Limpopo leader, Jacques Smalle, the DA had learnt that the district and local municipalities involved responded so poorly to the crisis that they endangered the lives of people in the area. “The municipalities have still not issued formal warnings to all the affected residents,” read a media statement by die DA.
It has already been determined by environmental specialists with the testing of water samples, that the sulfuric acid had already spread for about 2km into the Nyl river on Tuesday morning and they were still busy doing tests to determine the extent of the spread. Smalle stated: “When an official from the municipality’s disaster centre was contacted on Saturday to assist with the accident his callous response on an sms, seen by the DA was, ‘what does the crisis have to do with me?’
The fire department compounded this crisis after showing up at the scene four hours later.
“Fire officials swept the highly corrosive mineral acid into the river. This caused damage and killed living species in the water,” read the statement.
They have started with a clean-up campaign and 5 tons of lime were already thrown into the river on Tuesday morning to try and neutralize the acid.
The clean-up campaign could cost up to a million rand and after a lot of pressure from the DA the district municipality committed to donating R50 000 for the much needed 30 tons of lime to clean up the water. The rehabilitation of the river requires experts such as Geohydrologists to conduct a environmental impact assessment study.
“The DA will monitor this situation until safety is restored and we will ensure that all officials who neglected their responsibilities are held accountable,” reported the DA in a statement.
Patrick Shika, spokesperson for Modimolle Municipality, said: “It is not due to negligent circumstances that the sulfuric acid spilled into the river. If you have a look at where the accident occurred it is only 500m from the Nyl river.”
He referred Bosveld to the department of water and sanitation for further information.
Sputnik Ratau, director of media liaison at the department of water and sanitation, said: “The whole matter is in the process of being thoroughly investigated and the cleaning of the polluted water is our number one priority. The department’s compliance, monitoring and enforcement unit has been dispatched to Modimolle. The unit has set up a disaster team in the town, which will be looking into the matter progressively.
“The pollution has as such been contained whilst further investigations into the disaster are underway.”
Lepelle Northern Water spokesperson, Simon Mpamonyane, said the Mogalakwena area was safe as its water supply through Lepelle Northern Water came from the Doorndraai dam.
Mpamonyane stated that they had sent their risk and quality team to take samples of the ph level in the Doorndraai dam, just to be safe and so far all was in order.
He also assured Bosveld that they would keep on testing the water and if there was any need for alarm they would immediately advise the municipality.
Ockert Scherman, chairperson of the district agriculture union Mokopane, said: “I investigated the matter and spoke to a trustworthy source in Modimolle who reassured me that the water in Mookgophong is safe and that the situation in Modimolle is now under control.”
