Standing atop the bridge between Duvha Park and Tasbet Park; the problem becomes apparent, Naauwpoort Waste Treatment Plant is still leaking sewage into this trickling stream that leads straight into Witbank Dam.
The smell is incredibly pungent, and the water visibly dirty, but this isn’t a new complaint according to residents of the area.
WITBANK NEWS first reported on the faeces being pumped into Witbank Dam by Naauwpoort Waste Treatment Plant in 2014, four years ago.
For four years, Naauwpoort Waste Treatment Plant has ostensibly been seeping sewage into Witbank Dam, with little to no improvement despite constant complaints from residents of the area.
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“We get our drinking water from Witbank Dam,” said one Duvha Park resident, “it’s disgusting. Children swim in that water. We fish in that water, and then we eat the fish. It makes me nauseous just thinking about it.”
The river that trickles through the bridge between Duvha and Tasbet Park is contaminated with faeces.
Another resident chimed in,
“and what about the animals in the nature reserve and the fish in the dam? Or the birds around Witbank Dam? Surely the fecal matter being pumped into Witbank Dam will effect them too? We’re worried about a cholera outbreak if our drinking water gets contaminated; and our stomachs are much stronger than most wild creatures’!”
The municipality was approached for comment, though no response had been received at the time of publication.
