Sisulu to help save dirty Vaal
A FLURRY of government visits to the Vaal in the past fortnight gives new hope to the resolution of the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s sewage crisis.
At last, Save the Vaal Environment’s (Save) alarm bells are being heard. First, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu held a press conference followed by meetings and an inspection of the Vaal River and Rietspruit.
On Friday, the water and sanitation parliamentary portfolio committee was taken on a cruise to see the pollution in the river.
In between, there have been two important announcements, one from Sisulu and the other from the water portfolio committee. The interest and discussions reinforce Save’s decision to suspend the litigation against various government entities until a progress review in April.
Sisulu appealed to the community, including Save, to trust her. Sisulu is determined to resolve the Vaal sewage pollution crisis as quickly as possible. The question is: Will the bureaucrats ensure the efficient processing to meet its commitments and deal with the challenges such as theft, community protests and the lack of education in some communities?
Save environmental specialist attorney Jeremy Ridl explained to Sisulu the reasons for the organisation’s proceeding to get court orders against the municipality, environmental affairs and finance, together with the Gauteng province official.
Save has been working to prevent pollution of the Vaal River for more than 20 years. The minister invited Save to take its problems to her directly.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Lebogang Maile said his department had no intention of fighting the legal action as it accepted the problem had to be resolved. The minister held a second meeting, on January 27, with community groups including Save and the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce and confirmed her intentions of cleaning the Vaal River.
Sisulu said she intended seeking the Cabinet’s permission and approval for the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) to assist the municipality to manage the infrastructure.
She said Rand Water and the East Rand Water Care Company (Erwat), as the two implementing agents of the project, would report to her on their continued intervention.
Last week, Sisulu took a trip on the Vaal Barrage and up the Rietspruit, the source of much of the pollution. She was accompanied by the mayors of Sedibeng and Emfuleni and other officials. She described her tour as “an eye-opener”.
Portfolio committee chairperson Machwene Semenya said the broader solution was two-fold – improved legislative framework governing water infrastructure and dealing with operational and maintenance backlogs. The amendment of the Water Services Act and National Water Act was pressing to ensure synergy and efficiency between the two legal frameworks.
Directives by the department to municipalities – the source of the pollution – were not working, the committee said, which resulted in the need to reconsider the licensing of municipalities that were failing to run wastewater treatment plants.
It appears Erwat has a workable plan to bring the Emfuleni waste water system back into operation.
We applaud Sisulu for taking the project under her wing.
Maureen Stewart is from Save the Vaal Environment