Sewage is pumped into an open field in Lephalale town
Community Alerts/Andries Mocheko/Limpopo-Lephalale/19/04/18
Follow up story on Sewage crisis in Lephalale town.
Our local municipality in Lephalale says that it regrets its hasty decision to dispose of sewage in open fields nearby residential area. “The municipal regrets the decision taken under pressure to pump sewage into a nearby field and will in refrain from doing so”, said municipality spokeswoman Valerie Cilliers.
Residents of the Lephalale town had to deal with a massive stink over the last 10 years because of a broken sewage pump in Lephalale town.”The sewage team had to pump the sewage out in order to get to broken pump,” Cilliers told WEJF team. Aside from the foul smell, the sewage disposal presents health risks and a threat to local water quality, explains. Dr James Dabrowski .”Pumping raw sewage into the river should not be allowed under circumstances,” said Dabrowski, Principal researcher at the council for Scientific and Industrial Researcher (CSIR).
DA ward councillor Dries Basson told WEJF TEAM that she was contacted by upset residents, ” The phone has not stopped ringing with people complaining about sewage running nearby their houses in different locations, ” she said, this is against the Constitution, of the environmental Act and the Water Act,” said Basson, who is a councillor of Lephalale Local Municipality.
WEJF reported the matter to the Environmental Management inspectors (formally known as the Green Scorpion) The public will be informed of the outcome of the investigations, from WEJF team. The Lephalale Municipality has admitted that the sewage disposal is one of its main challenges and it’s due to influx of people to the area. “We have had an unprecedented influx of job seekers looking for better future, hoping to find work at the Medupi power station building projects ” said Cilliers.
Micha Burger, manager of Machauke lodge and Herman Kotze manager of Palm Park Hotel in Lephalale town, says they’ve been experiencing this problem since this Medupi project come to these areas. The Lodge and Hotel is the banks of Mokolo River and Burger and Kotze said they’ve seen sewage come through the storm water drain and flow into the river of Mokolo dam. By Andries Mocheko