Cause of Moot rivulet pollution addressed

A foul smell emitting from a rivulet in Eersterust should now be a thing of the past, Tshwane metro has announced.

Spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the pollution and bad smell emitting from the Rietspruit rivulet was largely caused by an occasional overflowing sewer and a few industries in the Waltloo industrial area that had problems with their effluent pre-treatment system.

“The overflowing manhole was reported to sewer maintenance and the industries were approached to rectify the problems,” Mashigo said.

“The inspection was conducted at the industries and everything was satisfactory.”

The rivulet, which flows through Eersterust to the Moreleta stream, had become a hotspot for dumping toxic waste, unabated pollution and contamination in the past years, resulting in a foul smell.

“Sometimes the smell is unbearable,” said local and former ward councillor Winston Campbell.

“However, it varies from time to time – sometimes we don’t smell it at all. It adds to the pollution in the area.”

Several weeks ago, metro officials visited Eersterust in an attempt to determine the cause of the smell.

They were joined by Campbell who guided them to problem sites where it was discovered that some industries in the area were part of the problem.

He said another problem was the overgrowth of plantation along the stream.

“My opinion is, the metro must first remove the alien plantation that grows along the stream,” he said.

“The overgrowth has also become a hideaway for criminals to discard of unwanted stolen items.”

CPF chairperson Henry Godfrey said there was another problem in the area.

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“Eersterust is systematically being transformed into a dumping site due to the metro’s service delivery concerning the collection of household refuse and maintenance of parks and open spaces,” said Godfrey.

“The consequence is that most empty parks and fields become illegal dumping places.

“I believe it starts with the community – they need to start to name and shame the illegal dumpers because they know who they are. Residents need to start taking accountability.”

The pollution, especially of the Rietspruit rivulet, was one of many issues raised during a mayoral-imbizo in February 2008.

“Most of the issues raised at this meeting still remain the same, more than 11 years later,” Campbell said.

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