Money for Hennops ‘only a drop’
Experts say the money allocated to save the Hennops river won't be sufficient.
Kristian Meijer and Yolanda Barnard
The money allocated to restore the polluted Hennops river is only a drop in the ocean, an expert said this week.
AfriForum‘s environmental affairs section said the R200 000 the Tshwane metro had invested towards the rehabilitation of the Hennops river would not do the job.
“We are thankful that the metro has finally joined in the fight against the pollution in the river, but the money they have invested is nowhere near enough,” said AfriForum head of environmental affairs Julius Kleynhans.
Rekord reported in December that the Tshwane metro had approved a trial run to fight pollution in the river.
It commisioned Eco-tabs, a company providing chemical tablets to restore oxygen levels in the water and destroy harmful bacteria.
In June 2015, AfriForum worked with the same company and paid R60 000 for the tablets to help rehabilitate the Hennops.
Rekord recently visited the site where tablets have been placed in the river in the trial run.
Rod Genricks, MD of Eco-tabs, said the tablets had helped to change the colour of the river at the test site, and he hoped life would soon return to the river.
But Kleynhans said the tablets provided only a modicum of relief to the river. This was not a sustainable option.
“Although the eco-tabs provide some relief, the fact is until the massive amounts of sewage being dumped into the river in Tembisa is addressed, nothing will change.”
Kleynhans said AfriForum would again commission a sampling survey of the river to determine its current state in the coming two weeks.
A previous sampling survery, conducted by Dr Louis de Wet of Waterlab (Pty) Ltd, delivered some shocking results.
It found that both faecal coliform bacteria and E. coli in excess of 100 000 units/100 ml for the upper sampling sites in the river.
“The reason why these tests are take so long to be commissioned is because of the logistical organisation it requires. The new tests, which will be carried out soon, will take two days to carry out,” said Kleynhans.
“Although we expect a change in the bacteria levels at the sites where the eco-tabs were placed, the upper sampling sites, the overall levels will still be extremely high.”
AfriForum intended using the results in a court action against the metro.
They hope to obtain a court order, forcing the metro to take drastic action to rehabilitate the river.
In November 2015 Rekord also reported that the Centurion Lake, which the Hennops flows through, would be closed once and for all in favour of the Symbio City development.
“Unfortunately the case can take up to three years,” said Kleynhans.
It seems the horrid Hennops river will continue to be a thorn in the side and stench in the nose of Centurioners for years to come.
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