Klerksoord sewage: A major environmental crisis

The sewage spillages at Klerksoord Industrial have left residents at their wit’s end, with the Tshwane metro seemingly unable to fix them.

For six long months, raw sewage has been flowing behind homes, all over Diamant and Ivory streets in Akasia north of Pretoria, behind office buildings polluting water sources and causing a major environmental crisis in contravention of environmental laws.

Despite the Tshwane metro’s R17-million emergency contract for repairs, the sewage has worsened and turned the area into a sewage swamp.

The overflowing and blocked sewerage has had a significant impact on the environment and quality of life in Klerksoord Industrial.

The fly infestation and the strong stench of sewage have caused great discomfort for the residents and workers in the area.

Furthermore, the contaminated stormwater is causing a degradation of the air quality, posing a serious threat to the health and well-being of the community.

Not only is this a threat to human health, it is also causing irreparable damage to the environment, a precious resource that must be protected.

The sewage according to an expert has been creating a breeding ground for disease-carrying organisms and posing a significant risk to human health in contravention of environmental laws.

Residents are calling for action to be taken to resolve the crisis but the impact on the environment is already significant.

The employees of Oakley Group have been voicing their concerns about the sewage problem, which has had a profound impact on their work environment.

Inge Vos, an employee at the company, said the smell is unbearable and that they are unable to open windows or park their cars in the area, due to the flooded parking lot.

Vusimuzi Mahlangu, a security guard, added that the smell is especially bad at night, making his job difficult.

“The sewage problem is not only causing health issues but is also creating an unsafe and unpleasant work environment,” Mahlangu said.

“This sewage has been a problem for months now.”

A resident in the area, Iwan Venter said the sewage flowing has damaged the roads.

“Ninety percent of the roads in our industrial area have become dirt roads due to the failure of the Tshwane metro.”

Venter said they pay industrial property rates, yet they still have sanitation problems.

“We maintain and fix roads at our own expense, while we also have an environmental crisis looming with this sewage, which Tshwane cannot fix.”

He said the city is creating another issue by diverting the sewage.

“The sewage is now running into the stormwater system and when the rainy season starts in two months, there is going to be a serious issue downstream,” Venter warned.

The sewage issue in Klerksoord has been garnering a lot of attention, and civil rights organisations have been taking action to help the residents and hold the city accountable.

These organisations are working to bring attention to the issue and to demand that the city take action to resolve it.

They are also advocating for the residents who are paying industrial property rates and not receiving adequate service.

Their efforts are critical in addressing the ongoing crisis and protecting the rights of the community.

The Pretoria Sakekamer visited the area last week.

“It appeared that a sewer system that stretches over 3.6km had been completely blocked for months,” said spokesperson Christo Bester.

“This causes the raw sewage to rise and flood everywhere. Instead of this bigger problem being tackled, proverbial band-aids are stuck over the places where the worst sewage overflows occur.”

Bester said the emergency contract of between R15-million and R17-million approved has in no way made an impact to solve this issue.

“On the contrary, it seems that the crisis only worsens and that the sewage flows directly into a stormwater channel, from where it joins natural river drains and finally ends up in the Bon Accord Dam.”

Bester said this sewage was polluting the water sources.

“The fact that no action is being taken to stop the sewage flowing directly into the stormwater channels is worrying. With the low water table in the area, there is already an environmental crisis in the Klerksoord area, but it is now spreading further into Bon Accord Dam.”

He said diverting the sewage is not helping at all.

“This is another temporary solution that is now being used to divert the streams of sewage through ditches to a nearby field to keep them out of the streets and business premises.”

However the streams being diverted to the fields are causing environmental pollution and under the National Environmental Management Act, there are penalties for contravening waste management regulations and for causing water pollution.

“We realise that the water situation in the whole of Pretoria is in a state of emergency, but in cases where environmental pollution occurs due to infrastructure collapses, there is strong case law against municipalities that fail to prioritise it,” Bester said.

He warned that if Tshwane doesn’t resolve this, a huge lawsuit might follow.

“In May 2022, the Rand West City municipality was fined R10-million due to sewage pollution. As recently as June 2023, the Lekwa municipality was fined R70-million for similar offences.”

Bester said the Tshwane metro has to address this infrastructure collapses.

Tshwane’s spokesperson was contacted and given ample time for a comment about the city’s plans to address this issue but by the time of going to press, the city had not responded.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram