AN abattoir in Frankfort is dumping animal offcuts and blood into the Vaal River, adding another source of pollution to the effluent-filled Vaal Dam.
Environmental activists say the health of more than 11-million people in Gauteng is being threatened by massive transgressions by the Mafube Municipality which is doing nothing to stop the seepage of raw sewage and animal offcuts into the Vaal River.
The Vaal Dam supplies water to Gauteng and the surrounding provinces. Due to increasing demands from its supply area, which includes some of the largest industrial companies in SA, the water supply from the Vaal River has been supplemented with other sources, b ut the river remains the major supplier to the dam.
The sewage, in particular, causes a buildup of blue-green algae containing microcystins which are deadly, says water scientist and activist Prof Anthony Turton. “Some of SA’s dams contain some of the highest levels of microcystins (in the world), caused by sewage being pumped into the water supply,” he says.
“In Finland, they get excited if they find 10 micrograms of microcystins per litre in their water, and in the US, they are concerned if there are 60 micrograms per litre.
“In SA, the five largest dams have between 10000 and 16000 micrograms of microcystins per litre. The only way to filter these out of the water is by using an activated charcoal filter,” he says.
Turton says microcystins are “as poisonous as Rinkhals venom and also carcinogenic”.
Rand Water Board spokesperson Francois v an Wyk says at the moment the water supply from the Vaal is safe. He says the level of microcystins decreases during the cold winter months . He says that the board keeps a close watch on microcystin levels.
Municipalities which do not comply with court orders to stop pumping raw sewage into the Vaal Dam and Vaal River could now face criminal charges, says a member of the Blue Scorpions, Nigel Adams who this week was investigating the transgressions.
Adams says that a South African Police Service forensic team is collecting photographic evidence and scientific samples so that a fresh case can be bought against Mafube Municipality which includes Villiers, Frankfort, Cornelia and Tweeling .
The environmental group Save the Vaal Environment (SAVE) says despite court orders dating as far back as 2004, ordering the municipality to repair broken pipes at their sewerage and water purification works at Frankfort and Villiers, raw sewage is oozing out over ground that leads into the Vaal River.
Mafube councillor, Pieter van der Westhuizen of the Freedom Front Plus who is working with SAVE to clean up his constituency, says an initial court order in 2004 failed to get results. Neither had another one handed down in August last year.
“The council says it is short of funds, but it has recently bought a new car for the mayor, Louis Ntombela, as well as a new bus,” says Van der Westhuizen.
But Ntombela says the problem is a “broken pump” at the sewerage works and “the timing of getting one fixed so that there is still one working”.
“At first, I would say it was a problem of the finances, but the problem was solved some six months ago. The regular breaking down of the pump station was the problem.”
While the discharge of sewage into the dam is not necessarily “a deliberate act”, says Dirk Niesing of SafeTwise, an independent health and safety consultancy that SAVE has retained to investigate the matter, “it is due to negligence and poor maintenance of the sewerage works”.
In a report to the Villiers and Frankfort Crisis Committee headed up by Van der Westhuizen, Niesing wrote: “The South African Constitution and Municipal Systems Act requires of municipalities to provide the community with healthy and safe living conditions”.
The main transgressions listed by Niesing include a serious deterioration of the structures and equipment of the water purification plants and sewerage works at Frankfort and Villiers.
Both installations are responsible for raw sewage flowing into the Vaal River.
“In Villiers, water for the town is pumped from the Vaal River into which sewage is leaking from broken pipes,” Niesing’s report reads.
Last month SAVE won a court order to stop the Emfuleni M unicipality from spilling raw sewage into the Vaal River. Emfuleni includes Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and other towns .
The spillage caused the death of 15 tons of fish, which had to be recovered from the river.
Van der Westhuizen says an abattoir in Frankfort is pumping animal blood and offcuts into its evaporation dam which in turn is seeping into the Vaal River.
This is confirmed by Adams, who says it was first noticed during an aerial survey.
“We saw a large area of red in the water. We are conducting tests to establish exactly what is causing this.”
“People in Gauteng are being threatened by massive transgressions by the Mafube Municipality which is doing nothing to stop the seepage of raw sewage and animal offcuts into the Vaal River”