This after a diesel spillage on Wednesday followed an alleged theft of diesel from the Transnet multi-fuel pipeline. 

She says her department has been working with the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, and Water and Sanitation minister, Senzo Mchunu, to try and speedily address the issue of the spillage. She says they will not rest until the issue of polluted water is resolved. 

Speaking in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday, Creecy said they want to make sure that the water supply is safe for drinking. Diesel is said to have spilt to the nearby river which ultimately flows to the allegedly poluted Vaal River.

“I would want to assure honourable members that myself, together with minister Pravin Gordon and minister Senzo Mchunu, have been working hard on this matter and we have teams currently at the Mafube municipality, [which includes towns like Frankfort], who are working on the issues of water pollution and resources,“ she adds.

Her statement comes after Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) Member of Parliament (MP), Heloise Denner, raised the matter in Parliament on Tuesday.

“During the early hours of Wednesday morning 9 March, unscrupulous thieves stole thousands of litters of diesel from Transnet's multi-fuel pipeline. The thieves caused the spillage of thousands of litres of diesel into the Meul River, which ultimately flows into the Vaal Dam.

“These water sources supply millions of people and animals with life-sustaining drinking water. This act of criminality, which occurs weekly across this pipeline, does not only lead to the loss of millions of litres of fuel and damage to property and surrounding fields of farmland, but the fact that water sources are polluted to the extent that this specific spillage caused, borders on domestic terrorism,” Denner added.

Meanwhile, the Free State police in Welkom arrested three foreign national suspects who were caught red-handed drawing diesel from the truck that was parked on the side of the road as the driver went to declare goods loaded on his truck at customs.

Police spokesperson, Mmako Mophiring, said it is alleged that on 4 February 2022 at about 19:45, police were conducting Crime Combating Duties at Ficksburg and Meqheleng. “While patrolling near the Ficksburg Port of Entry, they noticed a truck on the side of the road and next to it was a blue Toyota taxi with Lesotho registration numbers.

They decided to stop the vehicle and investigate. Three suspects were found busy draining diesel from the truck into 25-litre containers using a hosepipe. Upon further investigation, they noticed that two 25-litre containers were already loaded in the taxi. The driver was surprised to see policemen near his truck. He told them he had left his truck and went on foot to declare the goods that were in the truck at the Port of Entry,” Mophiring said.

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