Magareng Municipality has criticised AfriForum for “sowing panic” among the community after the civil rights group issued alerts for cholera and high levels of E coli in the Vaal River.
MAGARENG Municipality has criticised AfriForum for “sowing panic” among the community after the civil rights group issued alerts for cholera and high levels of E coli in the Vaal River.
AfriForum sent water samples for testing, where it detected contamination at Barkly West and Warrenton in the Vaal River and at Douglas in the Vaal River before it merges with the Orange River.
The manager of environmental affairs at AfriForum, Lambert de Klerk, said tests were carried out in the Vaal River and elsewhere in the past month after earlier tests from the river had been positive for cholera.
“Water samples were taken from towns along the Vaal River, while a sample was also taken in the river system. Dozens of people make use of this river’s water daily,” said De Klerk.
He added that around 40 laboratory tests were carried out in the immediate vicinity of the Vaal River.
“Furthermore, indicator tests were also carried out in several other towns’ drinking water to confirm whether the water is safe for human consumption and if E coli is present in water sources.
“These indicator tests were carried out after AfriForum received several requests from communities concerned about the quality of their drinking water.”
De Klerk found the E coli levels detected in water samples from the river system worrying.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will have to actively intervene and AfriForum is prepared to help. When looking at the interim reports issued by the DWS, it is clear that the directives issued are not being obeyed,” he said.
De Klerk found it perplexing that AfriForum was talking to experts on why cholera was not picked up at one point in the river, but further downstream the water did test positive for cholera.
“AfriForum appeals to persons who suspect their water is not suitable for human consumption to follow the necessary safety measures such as boiling water before using it,” he warned.
Magareng Municipality has rubbished the report.
In a statement, municipal manager Tumelo Thage said that they were never informed “officially or otherwise of the results of these ad hoc tests” by AfriForum.
“As such we are not able to comment on their results,” said Thage.
“In other words, there is no proof of a cholera outbreak in Magareng.”
He found it unfortunate that AfriForum had released their results in a “blanket approach” that sowed panic among community members.
“We don’t know where the samples were taken, who took the samples and at which laboratory they were tested. We are unable to link these aspects to municipal abstraction points, municipal infrastructure or quality control processes.”
He added that they had nonetheless, as a precautionary measure, collected samples at various service points that would be tested by Frances Baard District Municipality and an independent laboratory.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation is the legal custodian of river eco systems. It is the department that tests the raw water in the Vaal River, not the municipality,” he retorted.
Thage added that the municipality was responsible for the distribution of treated water.
DA member of Parliament Delmaine Christians pointed out that the collapse of municipal infrastructure was taking a “deadly toll” on communities that get their water from the Vaal River.
“Warrenton is still without water since floods damaged the town’s main pipeline in February. As repairs face one delay after another, potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases was inevitable,” said Christians.
She indicated that sewage leaks and burst pipes were regularly reported in Barkly West.
“Infrastructure problems lie at the heart of the cholera contamination as well as regular testing to show that water is safe for human consumption and regular updates to communities.”
Christians stated that they had reported service delivery concerns to the South African Human Rights Commission.
DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said the Vaal River was one of the most polluted rivers in the country.
“Our Green Drop report that was released in 2022 indicated that the performance of many municipal wastewater treatment systems was deteriorating,” said Mavasa.
“The report identified 334 wastewater systems in a critical state of performance, in 90 municipalities. This means that many municipalities are discharging effluent from their wastewater treatment works that does not meet the specified treatment levels, which in turn is resulting in pollution of rivers.”
She explained that outbreaks of cholera were caused either by people ingesting sewage-polluted water, or by faecal-oral means – through poor hygiene, eating contaminated food or by coming into contact with the faeces of an infected person.
“Sewage pollution of rivers can result in cholera bacteria entering the rivers via the faeces of an infected person or people.”
Mavasa added that DWS was carrying out weekly tests for cholera in the Vaal River at the point in Ngwathe where AfriForum tests initially indicated the presence of cholera bacteria, which was caused by a sewage-spilling manhole (which has since been repaired) situated near the watercourse.
“DWS tests at the site have not yet identified cholera bacteria. However, this does not mean that the AfriForum tests were incorrect. Cholera-infected faeces can be present at a particular point in the river at a particular time but may later flow downstream. DWS will conduct further tests downstream.”
She reminded members of the public that untreated water from rivers, dams and streams is not suitable for human consumption.
“We therefore urge members of the public to avoid consuming untreated water from such water bodies unless it is first disinfected. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has set out guidelines that should be followed regarding safe drinking water.”
Mavasa added that municipalities were required by law to carry out regular tests of treated drinking water before it is provided to communities.
“Drinking water provided by municipalities is safe to drink if municipalities are carrying out the tests as required and if the tests show that the water meets the standards for drinking water that are set by the South African Bureau of Standards.”
She said DWS was engaged in several initiatives aimed at addressing the problem of pollution of rivers by municipal wastewater treatment works.
“The minister has agreed on action plans to address infrastructural deficiencies in many of the worst-performing municipalities. The department is assisting municipalities with funding from the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) and Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) to address these deficiencies.”
Mavasa stated that DWS was taking regulatory action in terms of the National Water Act, including issuing non-compliance notices, directives, taking civil action and, as a last resort, laying criminal charges against polluting municipalities.
“DWS is drafting amendments to the Water Services Act to strengthen its role as the regulator of municipal water and sanitation services and to enable the minister to intervene effectively when there is non-compliance with directives to stop pollution.”
