Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo on Friday blamed municipalities, including Madibeng, for the pollution of Hartbeespoort Dam.

Hyacinth removal during the minister’s visit to Hartbeespoort Dam.

“It is unfortunate that the crisis that we are facing is predominantly caused by municipalities. There are, of course, other sources of pollution, such as agricultural runoff and chemicals from industries. As a department, we have therefore made a commitment to focus on municipalities and we are also at the forefront of advocating the polluter-pay principle so that everyone knows of the repercussions of polluting our water bodies,” Seitlholo said.
He visited Hartbeespoort to assess the Hartbeespoort Dam remediation programme instituted two years ago.
He called on Madibeng Local Municipality to address the effect of effluent that is not adequately treated at the municipality’s water treatment plant, before being released into the Hartbeespoort Dam catchment. He also urged the municipality to implement its by-laws to curb pollution caused by littering and chemical spillage from industrial companies.
“Over the years, Hartbeespoort Dam has become increasingly eutrophic, meaning it has high nutrients that support the rapid growth of hyacinth and has also deprived water of oxygen, resulting in incidents of fish deaths. The eutrophic state of the dam is due to rapid urbanisation that has led to increased solid waste and wastewater discharges from municipal wastewater treatment works.”