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Msunduzi River oil spillage issue escalated

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The KwaZulu-Natal Environmental Affairs Department says it has escalated the issue of an oil spillage in the Umsunduzi River to the Water and Sanitation Department and Umgeni Water.

It has denied allegations by non-governmental organisations that government does not have adequate plans in place to respond to oil spillages.

A week ago, the oil spillage killed fish and other species in the river in Pietermaritzburg.

Environmental organisations have accused those involved in the clean-up operations of being reckless by opening the Henley Dam to wash down the oil and other toxins.

Environmental Affairs spokesperson, Nathi Oliphant, says another arm of government decided to wash down the oil by opening the dam.

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has called on the City of Tshwane to urgently address water challenges in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.

This emerged during a meeting between the SAHRC in Gauteng and the Hammanskraal community on Tuesday.

The aim of the meeting was to give feedback to the community following water compliance tests conducted in a joint process involving the commission, the Water Affairs Department, the City of Tshwane and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

The commission says the water is not fit for human consumption. However, City of Tshwane has disputed this.

The commission’s manager, Buang Jones says they have instructed the city to urgently address the problem, but it is not co-operating.

Jones says, “The scientist found a number of issues. They found nitrates, ammonia, trihalomethanes in the water, organisms which cause cancer which could stunt the growth of babies. So there are a number of primary and secondary health effects if people continue drinking this water and we have said that for as long as the city does not address the underlying causes we will continue to have this challenge.”-Additional reporting by Maluti Obuseng 

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