The ongoing pollution in the Rietvlei reserve is a major cause for concern as it overflows into the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon. The Milnerton Central Residents Association took matters into their own hands after sending a request to Mayor Dan Plato and Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell to take urgent action, as IOL reports.
These recurring problems questions the City of Cape Town’s ability to swiftly respond to the issues at hand, the head of the association’s environment portfolio, Caroline Marx said.
According to Marx, there has been no reasonable explanation provided regarding this consistent problem, adding that “The standard excuse is to just divert the blame elsewhere, either on to residents or tender disputes or procurement or labour problems.”
On the other hand, IOL adds that Mayco member for water and waste Xanthea Limberg said the discolouration witnessed by residents was a result of “contributing factors [including] the recent heavy rainfall and increased clearing of water hyacinth which, when cleared, releases dark water, combined with the poor state of water quality in the system as the Diep River is a large catchment and there are a number of pollution sources and points along the catchment.”
In the same vein, the City has been called out to address the pollution in the False Bay Nature Reserve, which seems to have been caused by a sewage leak.
The Western Cape government has issued the City with a pre-directive and they have been given seven days to make representations as to why a directive in terms of Section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema), should not be issued.
As News24 reports, Bredell said that “Our environmental management inspectors confirmed that significant pollution of the environment has been caused as a result of a faulty manhole leaking sewerage into the False Bay Nature Reserve.
“This resulted in the decision to issue the City with this pre-directive, and if necessary, a directive may follow.
“If a directive is issued, the City will be ordered to contain or prevent the movement of pollutants or the cause of the degradation, eliminate any source of the pollution or degradation and remedy the effects of the pollution or degradation,” he adds.
Picture: Unsplash