Sewage spill in Amahlongwana River

Raw sewage flowing into the Amahlongwana/Widenham river system in Umdoni Municipality has raised concerns.
The KZN Subsistence Fishing Forum and the Clansthal Conservancy recently alerted authorities about the spill, saying that it poses a health hazard and a threat to the local ecosystem.

The forum said thousands of dead fish had washed up on the river banks over the past few days.
It added that this has been a problem for the past decade, saying that it is steadily getting worse.

The chairperson of the KZN Subsistence Fishing Forum, John Peter, said the forum which represents thousands of members who rely on fishing to put food on their tables and earn an income, is concerned about the environmental and social impact of the ongoing pollution.

Peter said the forum works with the Clansthal Conservancy and KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife to co-manage this area, which forms part of a Marine Protected Area.

He explained that the dead fish have washed up on the river banks, lying there for days.
He said the forum was concerned that people might, out of desperation, consume the fish or sell them, leading to massive health risks.

“We demand that the relevant authorities make a concerted effort to ensure that their critical infrastructure, like their pump stations, are fully functional to avoid any further disasters. We are planning to collect water samples as well as some dead fish for full analysis, to ascertain the exact cause of the fish kill. We want accountability,” he said.

Also, the Clansthal Conservancy’s chairperson, Rod Crookes, explained that the challenge is sewage spilling into the streams flowing from Craigieburn and Naidooville towns, as the municipal pump stations meant to pump sewage to the water treatment station at Craigieburn are not operational.

Crookes said the informal settlement at Naidooville also has no ablution facilities or pump station, resulting in the sewage washing into the streams after it rains.

He accompanied members of the Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMI) to the site last week, where fish had perished in the Amahlongwana River as a result of water contamination which is polluting the mangroves, a vital component of the ecosystem.

He added that readings were taken of oxygen levels, where 5.60 is considered the worst-case scenario – anything below that is uninhabitable.

Crookes said the readings in the stream coming from Naidooville were 2.68 oxygen levels, with readings from the stream out of Craigieburn and in the Amahlongwana River indicating 0.95 oxygen levels.

“The same was found in readings in the mangroves. This is very bad; nothing can survive that. The whole system is dead. The secondary challenge is that water lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes) which chokes the waterways, grows vigorously in such polluted water, spreading over open spaces of still water in the river. The fish and water birds’ environment is disrupted because it reduces light penetration, oxygen concentrations, and the pH of the water,” said Crookes.

He added that this causes fish and other aquatic life to perish.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like the South Coast Fever’s Facebook page