A fishy business

Video

CRADOCK NEWS AND VIDEO'S - Numerous complaints from residents, businesses, and farmers about the condition of the Great Fish River were received by Kobus Botha, DA EC Midlands Constituency Leader, and Member of the EC Provincial Legislature in Bhisho. Botha visited the area only to find various sewage spills, polluting the Great Fish River.

According to Botha, these sewage spills are a recurring sight since the Chris Hani District Municipality took over the water and sanitation function from the local municipalities as far back as 2014.

"The Great Fish River is the main water source for Cradock and surrounding areas. Various farmers along the river use water from the Great Fish River for the purpose of irrigation and drinking water for livestock.

"Human and animal well-being are at risk due to polluted river water. Untreated sewage should never end up in water to be used for farming or household use. The availability of safe and clean water is a basic human right," says Botha.

Site visits

"The first site visit was just below Tams Super SPAR, at the low water bridge crossover, alongside the Mortimer route, and the second site visit was at the municipality's main pipeline that carries sewage over the Fish River to the wastewater treatment works (WWTW)," states Botha.

Sewage origin

"Both the above sewage spills emanated from a poorly maintained and managed sewer system from Chris Hani District Municipality," says Botha.

"It is my duty to expose bad service delivery and hold the government of the day answerable for how taxpayers' money is spent, to make government operations more transparent and increase public trust in the government. The Parliamentary Questions and Replies from MECs facilitate obtaining answers to service delivery issues."

Botha had a face-to-face meeting with MEC Zolile Williams, who is responsible for the proper functioning of district and local municipalities. He confronted him with the above evidence, but Botha says he has received no reply.

"I will continue to fight for the finalisation of the criminal cases opened against Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) for not doing their job. The abdication of CHDM officials to execute their fiduciary duties must be met with consequences."

Reported in 2018

Robbie Venske, elected Councillor of the Chris Hani District Municipality, says the problem has been in existence since 2018, and reports by Venske to the Chris Hani District Municipality to that effect, have been published on an annual basis since 2018 in various media statements.

"The pollution in the Great Fish River has not been addressed by CHDM since 2018, and raw sewage still flows into the river, but will hopefully be addressed in the budget of the 2023/2024 financial year," says Venske.

CHDM stays mum

Contact was made with Pamela Mabentsela, newly appointed Director of the Chris Hani District Municipality's Environmental Directorate. She could not confirm any information and requested that the Department of Communications be contacted.

Buli Ganyaza of the municipality's communications department was not available to take the call.

Inxuba Yethemba MOU

Handri Vorster, DA Councillor serving on the Inxuba Yethemba Council, representing residents of Middelburg, replied to the Advertiser's query saying she is aware of the problem.

"It was raised at a council meeting, before a report to the Green Scorpions was sent about the problem in our area. We experience the same problems with pollution into the Klein Brak River in Middelburg, which is our main water source. But the Klein Brak River is a much smaller river than the Fish. I also suspect that the pipelines might be in the same state as the pipeline systems we have in Cradock.

Those will have to be repaired before any work on the wastewater treatment plant can be initiated.

"We are in the process of procuring a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chris Hani District Municipality to come to an agreement that responsibilities might be shared, but although discussions are ongoing, nothing has been signed by the Inxuba Yethemba Council. The council is communicating with CHDM to address this issue.

"As one of the tributaries of the Fish River, the Klein Brak River also contributes to the pollution into the Fish River, as regular sewage spills occur," states Vorster.

"Sewage pollution into the Klein Brak River is an existing problem and will shortly also be reported to the Green Scorpions if it's not addressed."

Green Scorpions

Both Ruaan Botha and Tim de Jongh of the Green Scorpions advised that problems were reported to the Green Scorpions during May 2022 and February this year.

CHDM did report to the Green Scorpions that work was done after the first report, but the same problem was again reported in February and investigations are ongoing in this regard.

This photo of the raw sewage polluting the Fish River tells a sad tale.

Boil the water

"Residents in Cradock are warned not to drink water from the Great Fish River as long as raw untreated sewage spills occur into the river. It is advised that all water for human and animal consumption be boiled before use, in order to minimise health risks," Kobus Botha stresses.