The Human Rights Commission has heard how various private and community stakeholders reached out to government to assist in combating the infrastructure challenges and resource shortages affecting the Vaal River, which is leading to pollution.
The commission has also heard how that the offers are yet to be accepted. While local, provincial and national government representatives were reluctant to concede human rights violations, other participants were very vocal.
Consulting Engineers South Africa’s Nezar Eldidy says there is no doubt that the poor state of the river impacts on residents’ rights.
“For sure it is a human rights violation, because if I am not able to access the service due to externalities, due to contamination of the water, due to the high cost of treatment, due to the inefficiencies inherent in the system due to the levels of expertise that is existing, due to the speed by which policies are issues, due to the stratification in the government and its impact on abilities to take decisions, of course that is an impediment.”
Residents of Vaal fear of a widespread health crisis if the raw sewage from the Emfuleni Local Municipality continues to flow into the Vaal River.
The Emfuleni Ratepayers’ Association told the Human Rights Commission during its submission at the inquiry into the Vaal pollution that other service delivery issues such as electricity and refuge collection also affect the quality of life and infringe the rights of residents.
Association chairperson Kobus van Rensburg says with cholera outbreaks in some neighbouring countries, the Vaal River is a time-bomb waiting to explode.
“This is now an even more critical issue that we need to address in Emfuleni. Imagine if one infected has the chance of infecting the sewerage system which goes into the Vaal River. We are spreading basically cholera to the rest of South Africa. So that’s critical. This is a disaster. It’s happening and it can be even worse if cholera infects our system.”
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