Water woes continue despite rain
AfriForum has a history of taking underperforming municipalities and government organisations across the country to task and achieving successful results more often than not, earning their reputation of being a 'civil rights watchdog' and a force to be reckoned with.
THE safety of Vryheid’s drinking water has come under scrutiny of late, with several complaints being reported about the smell and taste of the water flowing from the taps.
The Vryheid Herald requested a statement from the AbaQulusi Municipality on January 19 with regard to this matter. The response we received from the Manager of Water and Sanitation, WC Dlamini, via the AbaQulusi Municipal Liaison Officer, blamed the offensive odour on an increase of algae in the dam, combined with a shortage of rainfall and several hot days recently, claiming that the algae has taken over, hence the ‘green’ look of Klipfontein Dam at the time.
According to Mr Dlamini’s response, steps have been taken to deal with this matter. Firstly, the municipality has allegedly adjusted the dosage of chemicals, as well as contacting Rheochem, the company who supplies the chemicals to visit the dam and advise them on what further steps to take.
Dlamini added, “It is to be noted that this situation has taken place two years ago and when we received rain the smell subsided quickly. Although the water still has the smell of algae however, it has decreased and we are currently doing all possible to eliminate the smell as soon as possible.”
But is the algae perhaps being pulled over our eyes? Chris Fourie of Afriforum recently visited Vryheid, intent on discovering the source of the AbaQulusi region’s ongoing water woes. AfriForum is a relatively well known organisation across South Africa, which has been established to protect the basic human rights of minority groups and communities. Although their focus is the Afrikaner minority, in cases such as these, where everyone is affected by the state of the drinking water, everyone is simultaneously affected by the outcome of their efforts.
AfriForum has a history of taking underperforming municipalities and government organisations across the country to task and achieving successful results more often than not, earning their reputation of being a ‘civil rights watchdog’ and a force to be reckoned with.
On Thursday, January 22, Fourie met with Doug Grewar, Vryheid’s very own human rights watchdog, according to some, and a knowledgeable representative of the AbaQulusi Residents’ Association, where several imperative and pertinent matters were discussed. While the ARA struggles to gain the support of the community in its endeavours to challenge municipal misconduct, having a force such as AfriForum in their corner may very well cause the necessary stir to raise a few eyebrows in high places.
Fourie later met with an official from the water treatment plant, and acquired samples of the foul smelling water at its source and several other points along its route. These samples will be sent for testing at an independent laboratory in Durban. Once these results are made available to us, they will be published.
