Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Andrew Louw – DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate Error! Filename not specified.Date: 16 April 2019Release: Immediate Note to Editors: Find attached soundclips in English and Afrikaans from DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate, Andrew LouwThe stagnating Homevale Waste Water Purification Plant in Kimberley is a ticking time bomb, in need of an urgent and high-level intervention.These were the DA’s findings following an oversight inspection by myself, Western Cape Minister of Local Government Anton Bredell, and DA Sol Plaatje Councillors, to the plant today (see pictures here, here, here and here) The plant is not operational and from the sight and smell of cesspits of stagnant sludge, its evident that it has accumulated over a long period of time.Empty ponds are filled only with knee levels of fermenting muck. Crusts have formed over sewerage that has clearly been stagnant for an extended period of time. Bubbling, fermenting sewerage can be seen in certain ponds. One pond has turned an extraordinary pink colour, that must surely raise alarm bells. And the dams meant to be filled with clean, purified water are filled only with a hard layer of muck, that has plants growing on it. At the same time, raw sewerage is flowing into the veld at the back of the sewerage purification plant.It is intolerable that a so-called R100 million investment into the plant, has come to this.The plant has the ideal infrastructure for a well-run waste works set-up. However, there is zero management of the plant.Not only is there a lack of expertise to ensure that the plant is properly run but it is also a daily struggle for staff working at the plant to perform their duties. An over bureaucratic system also prevents basic supplies, such as chemicals and safety equipment from being ordered.In fact, permanent staff refuse to perform certain duties because it is too hazardous. In effect, the plant makes use of temporary workers to do danger work, such as climbing to the bottom of the ponds, to sweep up sludge in a futile effort to remove blockages. These workers do not wear harnesses of even life jackets, and they are placing their lives on the line.While the DA has already reported a number of sewerage spills in the city to the likes of the South African Human Rights Commission and the Green Scorpions, we will report Sol Plaatje to them again for the mismanagement of the sewerage plant. We further plan to lay a criminal charge against Sol Plaatje municipality, for polluting the environment and killing the city’s flamingos.We are also going to request the Labour Department to visit the plant as a matter of urgency.In 2012, five workers died in the plant due to exposure to toxic fumes and being engulfed in rising sewage sludge inside a pump station, due to mismanagement of the plant. We cannot allow another tragedy to befall those who risk their lives and their health, on a daily basis, at this plant.It’s time to say goodbye to 25-years of mismanagement under the failing ANC government or brace for yourselves for a city that is more akin to a city of sewerage than a city of diamonds.The DA is in the process of developing a turn-around plan for Sol Plaatje municipality. After the 8 the May, should we take over his province, we also have the commitment of Minister Bredell to urgently send in engineers from Cape Town to assist in resolving the brewing sewerage crisis in Sol Plaatje.Only change under a DA-led government will see to it that bulk infrastructure is routinely upgraded and maintained, instead of being mismanaged and abused as a decoy for ANC funding. Media Enquiries Andrew LouwDA Northern Cape Premier Candidate082 383 6914 Shelley De WittResearcher082 847 1387 |
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