The Acting Director-General, Trevor Balzar, is leading an oversight visit to the much-publicised Sedibeng Regional Sewerage Scheme Intervention Project in the Vanderbijlpark area which falls under the embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng. 

The incomplete intervention project has been in the pipeline for years and was created to curb sewage spillages into the homes of Sebokeng residents and the Vaal River.

Balzar is engaging local media with regards to expediting the implementation of the project. Almost a year ago, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) paid a visit to the project finding that it was nowhere near being complete. 

Over a year ago, the deputy president David Mabuza announced a R1.1 billion cash injection into the Sedibeng Regional Sewerage Scheme. It is Balzar who will provide an indication as to the difference the billion rand pledge has made in aiding the project. 

In the latter part of 2018 and early 2019, the Vaal River water crisis took centre stage in South Africa, with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announcing the deployment of the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to the area to assist with the pollution of the river, deemed an environmental disaster. The military, at the time, was to assist with engineering and other expertise to help fix the ongoing problem. In January of 2020, the SANDF withdrew from the intervention project. The Department of Defence announced that 500 of its members had taken part in the operation and managed to unblock a sewerage system, and fixing seven pump stations since their deployment.  

OFM News previously reported that the pollution at the Vaal River dates back over a decade, with the Emfuleni Municipality being blamed primarily for the crisis. Save the Vaal explained that the complete breakdown of the sanitation system at the ailing Emfuleni Local Municipality has resulted in raw sewage spilling into the Vaal River from several points.

Vice-Chairperson of Save the Vaal, Maureen Stewart, said at the time that farmers in the area use the water to irrigate their crops and animals drink the water. She explains that domestic drinking water at Emfuleni is safe to drink because it comes from the Vaal dam, but the water in the neighbouring Free State town, Parys – under the Ngwathe Local Municipality – was not entirely safe for consumption. To that end, the Ngwathe Local Municipality in the Free State has been intensifying its efforts to purify the water from the river, roping in Sedibeng Water, to assist with infrastructure-related issues at its Parys water treatment plant.

OFM News