Activists pick out ‘fishy’ claim

Nkwinti blasted for issuing ‘misleading’ information

TWO separate statements issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation about sewage spills and fish kills in the Vaal River near the Barrage, provided “grossly inaccurate” and “misleading” information to the public.

This is contained in two open letters sent to Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti this week, which seek to document how little authorities have done to prevent the Vaal sewage pollution crisis, explains Maureen Stewart, of Save the Vaal Environment (SAVE).

The letters to Nkwinti detail how a statement on August 7, which the DWS removed and which was written with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, suggested fish kills in the river may have been related to seasonal weather changes causing a “drastic drop in temperature”.

This caused lower oxygen levels in the water, the departments said.

But in its open letter, SAVE told Nkwinti the author of this statement was either ignorant or dishonest.

“Given the extremely high levels of sewage pollution of the river because of the total failure of the municipal waste water management system, to suggest that the oxygen depletion in the river is due to natural variations is preposterous.

“We are concerned that the statement is intended to mislead the public, and more seriously, to mislead you.

“The truth of the matter is that the river between the Vaal Dam and Parys is so polluted at present it retains very little natural function, and it is no surprise that fish are suffocating in what has become an open sewer.

“Your department is well aware of these facts and you should be, too,” SAVE said.

A subsequent statement issued by the DWS on August 13 painted a misleading picture as well.

“The problems referred to, namely the incapacity of municipalities, especially the Emfuleni municipality, to maintain wastewater management systems and the incapacity/non-performance of the Sebokeng regional sewer scheme arose many years ago,” said SAVE’S Malcolm Plant.

“They are not recent phenomena as the media statement suggests. SAVE has met with officials of your department on a regular basis since 2000.

“We have been promised many solutions and a number of plans were presented to us, all of which came to naught,” he said.

This statement, said Plant, did not clearly state the responsibility of the DWS in regard to its responsibilities for raw water resources.

“This includes the prevention of pollution from any source. It also does not spell out the DWS’S responsibilities in terms of people’s right to a clean environment per the Constitution.” The DWS was in “flagrant disregard” of its own National Water Act, said Plant.

SAVE, he said, held several high court orders against the Emfuleni council, the most recent being granted in February.

“The current crisis has been building up since then due to a lack of action on the part of the DWS and Emfuleni local council’s lack of funds, due largely to mismanagement over many years,” he said.

Plant wrote to Nkwinti that only the premier’s intervention in June under section 139 of the Constitution prevented further court action, because for the first time SAVE was presented with an action plan that had provincial and national financial backing, led by the premier and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as it had called for years before.

“For your department to claim the statutory mandate under the Water Services Act to take responsibility for water and sanitation services in the Emfuleni municipal area is laughable.

“Forgive us if statements and promises of action from your department ring hollow.

“What SAVE objects to is the impression created in the media release that your department is in control of matters.

“It is not and hasn’t been for years,” Plant wrote.