Bloubank Spruit: An ecological disaster

Sewage spilling into streams and rivers from dysfunctional pump houses in Krugersdorp is causing serious problems for residents and businesses. A tour along the Bloubankspruit, from Munsieville to Muldersdrift on January 18, revealed a full-scale crisis in the making.

The Roodepoort Northsider, accompanied by spokesperson for the Acid Mining Drainage Monitoring (AMD) Forum, Trevor Brough, visited numerous sites along the flow of the Bloubankspruit between Krugersdorp and Muldersdrift, coming across one shocking scene after another.

A pump station in Munsieville, looked after by a lone security guard, has not been in operation in months. A machine used to separate solid waste from liquids has been out of use for so long that weeds are growing on and out of the machine. The pumps, which are supposed to pump wastewater from the drainage system to the nearby Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Works, are fully submerged under stinking, sometimes bubbling raw sewage liquid. The controls are now used as shelves for boxes, and even a pair of old boots.

Across the road from the pump station, elderly resident Ephraim Pheshoko, can just shake his head in disbelief over the overflowing drain on his sidewalk, caused by the broken pump house. Raw sewage erupts from the large drain on the corner of his sidewalk, flooding part of his otherwise immaculate sidewalk and into the street. Pheshoko has lived in this house for 15 years and he has completely given up hope of getting help from the local municipality. He spends a great deal of time and energy on his pristine garden and sidewalk.

“Even the top officials come here and make promises,” he said. “Sometimes they even send a team, who unblock the drain, only for it to start overflowing again a day or two later. We are living with this every day. My health is starting to suffer because of it,” he said, gesturing at his chest.

“We receive more help from strangers than we do from the municipality,” said Pheshoko, referring to the unlikely friendship that has formed between residents of this particular piece of Munsieville and AMD Monitoring Forum members, consisting mostly of the owners of businesses along the Bloubankspruit whose businesses – and livelihoods – are threatened by the continuing sewage spill.

On the opposite corner, resident Fezile Dlamini has it even worse, with a stream of sewage flowing literally through his yard.

“We’ve had to dig a trench to direct it out of the yard, otherwise it would be everywhere,” said Dlamini, while showing us around his property where dogs, goats, chickens and small children roam.

Just behind the pumphouse in the veld, the stream of sewage meanders its way to the Bloubankspruit. The banks of this horrid stream are in places between six and eight metres high, and if the stench is not enough to convince you that this is no ordinary tranquil stream, the unnatural colour of the “water” certainly will. No signs of life are to be spied anywhere around the stream except for a vagrant dwelling consisting small square of earth, hollowed out for protection against the wind, and containing a thin old mattress, a dirty blanket, and a few meagre belongings. None of the birdlife is normally associated with a place like this, just the smell, the eerie coloured water, and the stench.

The Bloubankspruit flows from Krugersdorp, through Coronation Park, the Krugersdorp CBD, through Munsieville, and past the all but defunct Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Plant, from there making its way through Oaktree, and to Muldersdrift. Along its banks are many businesses, a great many engaged in the tourism and hospitality sectors, depending on the beautiful, tranquil stream to entice people to visit them on weekends. It meanders its way through Muldersdrift where it flows into the Crocodile River, and eventually into the Heritage Lake.

The AMD Monitoring Forum was initially started as a community organisation to monitor acid mine drainage in Krugersdorp and surrounding areas and has morphed into an informal organisation consisting of business owners and concerned residents fighting for the conservation of the area’s natural resources. According to Bough, who has been involved in these issues for years, the sewage situation in along the Bloubankspruit is more than just an inconvenience for businesses along the flow of the spruit. The forum believes that it is an impending disaster if nothing is done to stop it. In addition to the many people who make their living from businesses along the spruit, the ecological damage to the area is significant.

“There is virtually no life left in the sprint. Even those hardy fish species that can survive in less than ideal waters, have all but disappeared. Next to go will be the birds that prey on fish and frogs,” he says.

Watch this space for updates as this story develops.