The Madibeng Municipality has not settled its arrears account with the City of Tshwane in full and as a result, all of Hartbeespoort’s sewage has been streaming into the Hartbeespoort Dam for almost two weeks.

The Rietfontein Wastewater Treatment plant has not been operating for the past two weeks.

The City of Tshwane disconnected the electricity supply to the Rietfontein wastewater treatment plant on 25 October because Madibeng Municipality failed to pay its arrears account of R2.5 million.
According to the disconnection notice, Madibeng Municipality’s account of R2 506 442.59 is in arrears. “If the amount in arrears is not paid or arrangements for paying it off are not made, follow-up inspections will be conducted to determine whether the municipal service supply is still disconnected,” the notice reads.
The Rietfontein plant receives sewage from 14 pump stations from all suburbs on the northern side of Hartbeespoort Dam. Raw sewage has been streaming unhindered through the plant into the Swartspruit rivulet, through the Xanadu Eco Estate and into Hartbeespoort Dam.
Madibeng councillor Graeme Peplar said he was told by Madibeng officials that an amount has been paid but that Tshwane wants the arrears account paid in full before restoring the supply. According to Peplar, he was told by an official that Madibeng owes Tshwane a total amount of about R120 million. “I was told that Tshwane had restored the electricity supply, however on Wednesday morning there was still no electricity supply at the plant.”
Municipal spokesperson Tumelo Tshabalala repeated its previous answer to enquiries, saying that the municipality remains committed to paying its creditors. “We have paid the City of Tshwane for the Rietfontein Waste Water Treatment Works account, but the City wants us to settle all other accounts. Our legal team is handling the matter further,” he said.
Kormorant was this week informed by a source that Tshwane intends to cut further electricity supply because of Madibeng’s debt. The City of Tshwane undertook to respond to Kormorant’s enquiry but had not done so by the time of going to press.
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