Parliament, Sunday, September 2019 –The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has given instructed all the spheres of government to come up with preliminary intervention to deal with the continuing water challenge in Hammanskraal, in the City of Tshwane. The committee visited the area to ascertain if there are concrete plans to resolve the problem.
The committee is concerned that there was general agreement that the situation, especially at the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant, has deteriorated. The committee has found out that the plant continues to dump untreated water with possible environmental impact on the Apies river. Furthermore, the committee highlighted the fact tht dumping of the untreated water has a potential health hazard to the residents that rely on the Bon Accord dam that serves the residents of Hammanskraal.
“The reason the committee gave all three spheres of government instructions to intervene was primarily because the committee found out that there was no Chlorine on the plant which meant that water is not disinfected before it is recycled back into the river system. The possible health risk is that waterborne diseases can be spread not only to the people of Tshwane, but downstream to North West and the entire river system", said Ms Machwene Semenya, the Chairperson of the committee.
The committee is alarmed by the possible emission of methane gas at the sludge tank which has potential health risk and possible death. Government must find ways to deal with this occurrence before anything regrettable happens.
The current situation is directly linked to the lack of planning that has failed to take into consideration the growing trajectory of urban areas. Furthermore, the lack of maintenance plans has resulted in obsolete technology and parts of the plant that are not working.
In the medium and long term, the committee has instructed all spheres of government to draft a detailed plan on how this matter will be resolved. This plan should have clear budgetary requirements to deal with the matter holistically. The committee has committed to visit Gauteng again because of the reoccurrence of this challenge in Gauteng following the challenges in the Vaal.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION, MS MACHWENE SEMENYA
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour