Noxious foam found in Farmall
FARMALL - A noxious-smelling foam coming off the Klein Jukskei River has Farmall residents worried about chemical dumping and pollution.
Farmall resident, Gavin Tonks explained that the river which runs from Cosmo City, under Malibongwe Drive and into a dam in Farmall often contains the foul-smelling foam.
Tonks said the foam could be due to factories dumping chemicals into the river, as well as chemicals deposited when residents of Msawawa and Pipeline informal settlements wash clothes and dishes in the river.
Ward councillor for Ward 96, Matome Mafokwane conceded that the Klein Jukskei is heavily polluted, however he added that the claim that factories were dumping chemicals into the water had been investigated and found to be false.
He said there was an ongoing relationship between factory owners and the municipality to not deposit waste chemicals into the water, and to test the water on a regular basis. Mafokwane explained that because the informal settlements are not connected to “the grid” they have no choice but to wash their items in the river.
“The number of shacks [in Msawawa and Pipeline informal settlements] have expanded so much that contractors who are sent to connect the residents to the water supply can’t even get into the settlement,” he said.
Mafokwane explained that the illegal dumping of building rubble into the river may also be responsible for the foam. “There are chemicals in building rubble and this pollutes the water and causes a blockage in the river,” he said.
However Mafokwane believed that the problem of dumping and pollution cannot be solved easily as there are a lot of parties involved, and there needs to be input from both the municipality and law enforcement as well as the residents themselves.
“Business owners need to also be aware of where their building rubble and waste chemicals are going, and make sure that they are disposed of in the right way so that illegal dumping is curtailed,” Mafokwane said.
