Court order against the Emfuleni municipality. The municipality failed to repair its sewer pump stations and caused millions of litres of raw sewage to flow into the Vaal River. Residents of the area reported a multitude of dead fish and a terrible smell of sewage along the Vaal River from Vereeniging where the broken pump stations are situated, down to the Barrage. Residents from Parys complained of the same problems. Despite the massive sewage leak, officials of the municipality were at court on Friday attempting to oppose the court order whilst no one attempted to attend to the sewage spillages. Rotting fish in themselves create a further health problem. Raw sewage in the water is highly dangerous and can cause illnesses such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, cryptosporidium cysts and giardia cysts. It also leads to the formation of cyano bacteria in the water which is an extremely toxic algae which can kill off both aquatic and bird life, as we experienced over the past week. Lotter Wepener, the chairman of SAVE hailed the order as a step in the right direction. He said that both SAVE and DWAF had now been engaging the municipality for many months in order to get it to avoid sewage spillages into the Vaal River which is used by thousands of people for recreational and other purposes. Communities at Parys use the River as their primary supply of water and they and all recreation users of the River are exposed to serious water borne diseases. The sewage contaminated water leads to skin, ear, throat and nose infections in humans and possible intestinal disorders. Judge de Jager ordered that Emfuleni must ensure that the spillage from pump stations 4 and 8 must be stopped by 26 November 2008 and that the pump stations must be repaired and maintained by 1 December 2008, failing which he granted SAVE the right to return to court for additional and further assistance against the municipality. Wepener said that SAVE will muster all its resources to go back to court if the municipality fails to comply with the order. By Sunday, two days after the order, no action had been taken by the municipality and Wepener said that the likelihood of SAVE approaching the court for further assistance was virtually a fait accompli. “We are at out wits end with the municipality and will seek the imprisonment of those officials who fail to comply with the court order” Wepener said. Donations to Save can be made into its account at FNB Vanderbijl Park (25094500) account number 512-900-844-03 – fax payment record to 086 672 9361). Issued by SAVE |