Raw sewage pollutes Rand West, when will the Mayor act?
Alwyn Van Tonder, DA Rand West City Caucus Leader and Ward 3 councillor writes:
The Randfontein Waste Water Treatment Works has deteriorated to the extent that untreated effluent is continuously flowing into the Tweelopies Spruit.
I will write to the Mayor of Rand West City Municipality, Mzi Khumalo, to request that he intervene in the matter.
Effluent is flowing into our streets and Greenhills often smells of raw sewage. We have submitted several complaints and requests to have the plant brought up to standard but unfortunately, it seems that our concerns are being ignored.
This might be due to the fact that, as acknowledged by Mayor Khumalo in his Soca, the merger of Randfontein and Westonaria has led to a major financial setback. As a result, the municipality cannot adequately budget for maintenance.
The reality is that in last year’s budget, virtually no internal funding was made available for capital projects and it is apparent in the draft budget for 2018/ 2019 that this will again be the case.
With the development of the Afri-Village in Greenhills expected to kick off in June 2018, more strain will be placed on the already dysfunctional Randfontein plant.
DA councillors Van Tonder, Dick, Erasmus, Harrison and de Lange are petitioning the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM), the West Rand District Municipality and the Provincial Government to assess the current state of the sewerage network. These entities must assist Rand West in submitting a business plan, and requesting funding needed to address the situation.
We are committed to serving the residents of RWCLM. We are the only party that is dedicated to bringing about the total change that builds one South Africa for all.
