Contaminated Vaal River system stabilised but rehabilitation is far from complete

The contamination of the Vaal River system remains a threat to life for the Vaal region community members, despite the 14-month takeover by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to restore the system, challenges with sewage and water quality remain largely unchanged. 

The Human Rights Commission said they were still receiving a number of complaints from community members about sewage spillages that are still visible in some parts of the region. 

“Communities are complaining, they are still sending complaints about the sewer spillages. We’ll have to go back and see what the challenges are,” said Buang Jones, Gauteng’s Provincial head of the commission. 

The army was deployed to fix the Vaal River system in October 2018 on an emergency basis. Initially, they were to spend a year fixing 46 water pump stations. However, three months into the project, funding became a challenge and this stalled their work. 

According to a statement released by the SANDF to date, seven pump stations have been fully restored and are operational while 24 are functioning but require attention. 

SANDF’s head of communication, Siphiwe Dlamini told Daily Maverick that “there is a huge backlog in the system which will take a while to fix”. He could not confirm how much money was spent in total to rehabilitate the seven pump stations. 

In its initial stages, R20-million was allocated to the project by the water and sanitation department. But at a later date, the department’s Gauteng provincial head, Sibusiso Mthembu testified at an inquiry instituted by the Human Rights Commission on the contamination of the river that the project needed R240-million. 

Two months after Mthembu’s testimony, the then Minister of Water and Sanitation, Gugile Nkwinti announced that R341-million has been set aside to rehabilitate all wastewater treatment plants in the region. 

It remains unclear how much money was actually channelled towards rehabilitating some of the treatment plants and how much more is still needed going forward. The department is yet to reply to Daily Maverick’s questions on the money spent on the project to date. 

“There’s been absolutely no improvement in terms of water quality in the river. The problem remains,” Maureen Stewart, Save the Vaal Environment’s vice-chairperson told Daily Maverick.  

“I think the SANDF did the best they could but they needed funding, which was not coming from the National Treasury. That was the major problem. The whole system needs a tremendous amount of work,” she said. 

The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu issued a directive to her department that a Cabinet Memo be written to Cabinet to seek permission and approval that the department takes over the project. 

“Because of the challenges of capacity within the municipality, the Department of Water and Sanitation will be responsible for the management of water within the municipality and assist [it] to provide the necessary capacity,” Sisulu was quoted as saying in a statement. 

Stewart said the department’s takeover of the project would be the best decision to take now that SANDF was leaving.

“They will be able to clear a lot of the bureaucracies of funding [that are] being clogged up somewhere in the halls of the bureaucratic system. Because without funds, nobody can do anything,” she said. 

For now, the Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT) alongside Rand Water has taken over the project. Rand Water is tasked to repair three wastewater treatment plants, while ERWAT will take over the water network and ensure functional waste waterworks and pumping. DM