DA Shadow Minister for Water and Sanitation, Leon Basson, an expert on sewage purification systems, together with DA, member of parliament, Desiree van der Walt, visited Modjadjiskloof on Thursday, September 20, after numerous complaints have been received regarding ineffective sewage management.

As the town does not have its own purification plant, the waste is collected from septic tanks on a daily basis and transported to a purification plant based at Kgapane.

According to some of the residents of Modjadjiskloof, this process is not always followed and at times the waste is being pumped into a creek running through the town. “The tanks are not emptied regularly, resulting in manholes overflowing in the streets and waste being pushed back into the toilets,” a concerned resident told LETABA HERALD.

A visit was paid to the Golden Years Old Age Home, where these loathsome problems have become the norm. Basson spoke to the residents of the home, assuring them that the origin of the problems they are experiencing will be investigated and brought to the attention of the department on a national level.

The elderly were then treated to some cake and biscuits.

A visit to the plant in Kgapane revealed that important protocols in the purification process are not followed.

Leaking pumps and valves and overflow dams that are partly overgrown by vegetation, are some of the hard evidence of the neglect taking place.

One of the most disturbing discoveries however, was the lack of chlorine treatment of the grey water before it gets pumped into a settling pond. The purpose of the treatment is to kill the bacteria in the water before it is released from the pond.

“What is currently happening, is that this untreated water is released from the settling pond into a creek with potential disasterous effects,” Basson explained. ”

A report will be compiled and submitted to the Department of Water and Sanitation on a national level,” Basson concluded.

LETABA HERALD will keep you updated.