Water Affairs takes Tshwane to court over waste water plants

21st December 2018

By: Creamer Media Reporter

     

Font size: - +

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has taken the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to court over pollution that it says emanates from water treatment plants in the metro’s jurisdiction.

The matter was set to be heard in the Gauteng High Court on Friday, and the DWS said that it hoped to secure an urgent interdict to ensure remedial actions.

The department has described the malfunction of four waste water treatment plants, including Rooiwal, Klipgat, Baviaanspoort and Sunderland, as “critical”.

The South African Human Rights Council (SAHRC) has put the DWS and Tshwane on terms to ensure that the water pollution be stopped, but the department is claiming that the metro has not been cooperating.

“Failure by the metropolitan municipality to redress the problem as required SAHRC, will render the department a party to the ongoing pollution of the resource and degradation of the environment. This cannot be as the department must adhere to legislation as the sole protector of water resources in South Africa tasked also with providing clean drinkable water,” it said in a media statement on Friday.

The DWS has rejected the action plan that Tshwane submitted in July. It also said that it was not acceptable that Tshwane planned to only deliver on the plan by June 30, 2019, considering the serious state of affairs.

 

Edited by Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION