Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.In Boipatong, Phuthulla Primary School has struggled for at least eight years with the flow of sewage from broken pipes into the school yard when it rains.
A senior office-bearer at the school, who did not want to be named, says the schoolchildren often suffer from skin rashes and stomach problems. Sewage-contaminated water contains E. coli and salmonella bacteria, the common causes of diarrhoea and stomach cramps, symptoms that can be particularly hazardous for children and older people who may experience dehydration and other complications.
When it comes to exposure to water pollution — through drinking, bathing or water-based cooking — the harmful substances, which include heavy metals, chemicals and bacteria, can lead to cancer, neurological disorders, reproductive problems and developmental abnormalities.
Only a week ago, on 1 April, the municipality warned residents that water in some parts of the Vaal area, including Sebokeng Zone 7, Palm Springs, Beverley Hills, Lakeside and Evaton, had been contaminated as a result of a collapsed sewer pipeline. “You’d know that some of our infrastructure is very old and sometimes the conditions become poor and it breaks and gets dilapidated,” said Emfuleni municipality’s chief director, Madoda Besani.
“The legacy debt to Eskom and Rand Water currently makes the Emfuleni municipality unworkable on its own,” says Democratic Alliance MP Dennis Ryder.