The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) chairperson of the Gauteng Legislature’s Committee on Environmental Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development confronted the Mayor of the Mogale City Local Municipality, (Krugersdorp, Magaliesburg, Muldersdrift), Lucky Sele, about the total collapse of this once-prosperous area in the Cradle of Humankind.
Mayor Sele appeared before the Committee on Tuesday to report, among other things, on the status of the Luipaardsvlei Landfill and the Percy Steward, Flip Human and Magalies sewage treatment works.
The Luipaardsvlei Landfill was closed for three months last year after a fire broke out. The fire could not be extinguished immediately because there was no fire hydrant on-site.
After pressure from the Freedom Front Plus and the Committee, the Municipality began implementing systems to combat future fires. However, the Landfill still does not comply with the National Environmental Management Act.
The Percy Steward and Flip Human sewage works have been dysfunctional for years. Untreated sewage is dumped into rivers, forcing many businesses and farmers to stop their operations due to the foul odour and contaminated water. A local trout farm can no longer use water from the Bloubank Tributary and several guesthouses have closed their doors due to the unbearable stench.
The five-year-old Magalies sewage treatment plant is the biggest culprit discharging sewage into the Magalies River, which flows into Hartbeespoort Dam.
According to the Mayor, Mogale City budgeted approximately R500 million to clean polluted streams and rivers so the water is safe for human and animal consumption again. This is just a drop in the ocean, though, and will not adequately address the large-scale pollution of natural water sources. The problem cannot be resolved as long as the sewage treatment plants are dysfunctional.
Sewage spills have already occurred at the Brickvale housing scheme, and the Freedom Front Plus believes the water purification plant at the Sefularo housing scheme is inadequate and doomed to fail.
These housing schemes were developed and residents were given access before the necessary infrastructure was in place.
The Freedom Front Plus and the Committee have undertaken to keep pressuring Mogale City to fulfil its duty to create a safe environment in which residents can live and work.
Freedom Front Plus Youth Wing: The FF Plus has a youth wing called the FF Plus Youth.
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