Villagers use contaminated river water while R100-million sewage project delayed

The Tsomo waste water treatment works which was vanadalised after construction came to a halt in 2022. Photos: Manqulo Nyakombi.

• A new waste water treatment works in Tsomo, Eastern Cape, was left incomplete two years ago and has been vandalised.
• Across the town, sewage is spilling from broken infrastructure and flowing into the Tsomo River.
• Meanwhile, the contaminated river water is used by local villagers for drinking and household use when their taps run dry.

While construction of a R100-million waste water treatment project in Tsomo in the Eastern Cape has been delayed, sewage is spilling into the Tsomo River.

Due to a lack of consistent drinking water supply, Tsomo residents and downstream villagers draw water from the rivers for drinking and household use.

People also use the rivers to wash their clothes and to perform rituals.

Meanwhile, construction of the Tsomo Waste Water project started in April 2018 and was supposed to be completed by May 2021 at a cost of R96-million. The initial contractor left the site in May 2022. Their contract was later terminated due to poor performance. According to the villagers, the site was then left unguarded for years. Theft and vandalism followed.

Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson Bulelwa Ganyaza said the project is 85% complete. She said the municipality is in a process of appointing another service provider. R91-million has been spent to date, but a further R17-million is now needed to finish the project, including fixing what has been vandalised.

Ganyaza said overflow at the holding pond is managed by regular monitoring and emptying of the ponds to mitigate spillages.

Community leader Dumentlango Bolana said they have written a number of letters to the municipality but never receive a response.

“This project had problems from the start, with workers protesting for unpaid salaries,” said Bolani.

He said generators and pump lines still need to be installed.

Simamkele Qwele, chairperson of the Tsomo Stakeholders Forum, which was formed to deal with the numerous sanitation problems facing residents, said, “We had to force the municipality to hire the security guards. Now we are told that more millions will be added to fix what was already done and that is not fair to taxpayers.”

But sewage from Tsomo seems to barely reach the waste water treatment plant. Instead, it spills out of broken sewerage pipes across town and flows into the Lolwana stream and Tsomo River.

“Since last year we have been telling the municipality that we can’t continue jumping over human waste while walking in town. Our town smells bad and the sad thing is that people are no longer bothered; they are so used to it, and that is not right. Unfortunately, our municipality is not willing to listen to us,” said Qwele.

Resident Nobelungu Malana said, “We lack clean water and our taps are always dry … In the past three weeks we have been out of water. I had no choice but to get water from the Lolwana stream, because I can’t afford to buy water from the trucks and we are also not sure where these trucks get their water.”

Ward councillor Mncedisi Ngwane said water pipes are old and often break and it takes the municipality time to repair them.

The old broken sewer reticulation system.

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