The DA welcomes the decision by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) to lay criminal charges against Sol Plaatje municipality in relation to the prolonged dysfunctionality of the Homevale Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) and its devastating effect on Kamfers Dam.
The dam used to be world renowned as home to the largest lesser flamingo population in the southern hemisphere. This is no longer the case due to Sol Plaatje municipality’s gross inability to manage water levels and address water quality issues caused by raw sewage flowing from the Homevale WWTW into the dam.
Since DA councillors conducted an oversight inspection to the plant in 2019, we have put pressure on Sol Plaatje to fix the broken, multi-million-rand Homevale WWTW. Ongoing oversight inspections to the plant, including a site visit yesterday at which only the 15 ML line was found to be working, shows that Sol Plaatje is still not serious about fully operationalising the plant.
While it has cost a private landowner a court battle to place the demise of the dam in the spotlight, after the Department of Environment also ignored our appeal to intervene in the matter, the DA is relieved that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), has finally taken action against Sol Plaatje.
This is the first step in holding Sol Plaatje municipality accountable for years of dereliction of its duties and serious contraventions of environmental regulations.
Now it is time for Sol Plaatje to take responsibility for the prolonged mismanagement of the city’s sewerage infrastructure and work with urgency to implement corrective measures to fully operationalise the plant and attend to damages inflicted on Kamfers Dam, the greater Kimberley environment, the city’s roads and rail network and even homes flooded by effluent.
The DA will monitor the case and continue to raise the alarm should Sol Plaatje fail to respond appropriately to the criminal charges levied against it.