This is according to tourism expert and NWU lecturer, Melville Saayman, and follows confirmation by the national Department of Public Works that the dam yet again experienced a massive sewage spill. 

The spill allegedly originated from the Northern Works Waste Water Treatment Plant, situated in Johannesburg. Saayman says the dam is the second biggest tourist attraction next to Sun City, and that its upkeep is in the best interest of everyone in the province.

"You will have a lot of cancellations taking place. You will have the situation where a lot of people can’t use the dam for water activities, because they have been warned not to use it. So skiing, boating and all those activities will be cancelled - and obviously travel [will be affected] because people won’t stay there. It means that area in future will have to do so much more to recover from this, because it takes a while for the market to adapt,” Saayman adds.

Meanwhile, National Department of Public Works spokesperson, Thami Mchunu, says while this latest incident is regrettable, the department is denying responsibility for the pollution.

“The Long and short of it is that we [the department] are not responsible for the big sewage spill that has happened. The departmental technical experts have been on site. And we have made a recommendation to resolve the matter in collaboration with Johannesburg Water,” Mchunu added.


The spill occurred in the Jukskei River, which in turn resulted in the contamination of the Hartbeespoort Dam. Mchunu says an outfall sewer line had been decommissioned to resolve blockages, which resulted in spillages into the river.

OFM News