Water testing conducted at South Crest Spruit
Different bodies partnered to conduct water tests at the South Crest Spruit to tackle what is described as a health hazard.
Water from the South Crest spruit, which is considered a health hazard because of an unbearable stench emerging from the spruit, was tested on November 20.
Chris Fourie of AfriForum joined hands with Ward 106 councillor Timothy Denny and community liaison officer Bronwyn Brajevich to make these tests possible.
The trio had tests taken to observe what the levels of E.coli are and how to tackle this ongoing problem. E.coli, a form of bacteria, is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste contamination.
On the day, they took samples and conducted investigations and are now awaiting results as to how much E.coli is in the stream and the type of chemicals polluting it.
According to Brajevich, community members are at their wits’ end and are concerned about this health hazard.
“For years, factories in the City of Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg have been polluting the spruit that flows into the Natalspruit, which eventually flows into the Vaal. It is now becoming a health hazard, the stench especially for asthmatic people is highly dangerous,” she said.
She said one of the reasons contributing to this pollution is broken sewage pipes.
“Councillor Denny will identify and escalate this to Johannesburg and the local Ward 57 councillor, Faeeza Chame. We have since embarked on this project of identifying those responsible for polluting this stream. And after this testing, we will retest again,” said Brajevich.
She reiterated that once they have identified those responsible for polluting the spruit with chemicals, criminal charges will be laid against them.
