SAHRC to hold inquiry into water situation in City of Tshwane

The South African Human Rights Commission in Gauteng will be holding a public inquiry into the status of the water in the City of Tshwane Metro. The Commission’s provincial manager, Buang Jones, announced this after inspecting the water quality at Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon.

Residents of the City, especially Hammanskraal in the north, have been complaining about the quality of the water supplied. The Council on Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has found that water in Hammanskraal is contaminated and not suitable for human consumption.

Jones says he hopes the inquiry’s recommendations will ensure water challenges in the City of Tshwane are attended to, for good. “We hope that the inquiry will be very expeditious and those that would be invited would cooperate because we are going to extend an invitation to water scientists, to researchers, to the Department of Water and Sanitation, the City of Tshwane and  Environmental Affairs. Once there is cooperation and they have made their submissions it will make it easier for us to then expedite the process of report writing and we hope that by June next year we would have released our findings into this matter.”

Meanwhile, Roodeplaat businesswoman Christelle Esterhuizen says the contaminated Roodeplaat Dam is a health hazard to residents and it is negatively affecting businesses in the area.

“It’s affecting us with regards to the businesses that we have at the moment because of cancellations, because of the raw sewerage that’s actually contaminating the water and we believe that it’s flowing into the Roodeplaat Dam which is causing a huge health risk at the moment.”

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