WATCH: Harding cattle die – is water pollution to blame?
There have been five still born calves and five cattle that have died.
A Harding farmer claims his cattle are dying after being poisoned.
Bertie Strydom says his cows are also miscarrying and believes the cause might be contamination from the Umzimkulwana River.
“I have lost five head of cattle, and five calves have been stillborn,” he said.
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“Earlier this month I captured video footage of what appear to be employees at a treatment plant in Harding releasing untreated wastewater into the Umzimkulwana River. I personally have seen sewage flowing in the river and have taken footage of this as well.
“This is an environmental hazard which is affecting the entire river system and this could have serious implications,” said Mr Strydom.
He added that other farmers in the area had also suffered stock losses and were puzzled as to the cause.
“A vet has warned me to remove my cattle from near the river and to make sure they don’t drink the river water.
“This is huge and I don’t think people realise how big a problem this is. Ugu District Municipality needs to treat this with urgency as cattle are dying and with it being winter, water sources are particularly low.
“This, coupled with ongoing water supply outages means people are also using water from the river,” said Mr Strydom.
Ugu District Municipality spokesman France Zama said the municipality’s environmental health services was currently conducting its own investigation.
“A thorough report regarding findings will therefore be released on July 3. This time frame is determined by laboratory procedures,” said Mr Zama.
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