GEORGE NEWS - A warning was issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs instructing George Municipality to address the problems experienced with sewage running into the Kat / Mitchell rivers from leaking pipes. A fortnight ago Denneoord residents living along the river once again complained that chronically blocked sewage pipes overflowing and seeping into the river is a regular occurrence.

A private water test done on 2 July revealed an E-coli reading of 10 000 per 100 litres. This is a clear indication that there is an abnormally high presence of human faeces in the river.

Madeliefie Street residents have been pleading for a permanent solution. Apart from the stench, it is felt that faecal matter in a river that feeds into the Garden Route dam must be presenting an environmental health hazard.

Not a priority
Municipal manager Trevor Botha repeated the municipality's stance that blockages are normal occurrences and should not be seen as a system or network failure. He said the Denneoord sewage network upgrade is not seen as a priority, that no funds are available and that "outside financing" would have to be obtained for a complete upgrade.

Kariba weed
At the beginning of the year, the alarm was sounded when the Kat river was found to be completely overgrown with Kariba weed - which usually thrives on the nutrients found in sewage. The weed also lined the shores of the Garden Route dam.

Last week Reley Bell, biodiversity officer for production at the Department of Environmental affairs said she inspected the 'weed infestation' on the Kat river together with George Municipality's Eugene Matthews on 24 May. She remarked, "There is not a management plan in place; it is very important that a written plan be developed and mailed to Jakobus (Vaas) and myself before insects will be provided. Eugene and I agreed that the Kat river will be sprayed as soon as the procurement of supplier is finalised; hopefully before heavy rains of winter. The area behind the wall at the dam will be used to release insects from early spring."

Friends of the Kat River
Ken Gie of the Friends of the Kat River said it is inconceivable that the George Municipality does not consider water security as its main priority. "Ensuring the good health of George citizens through a sufficient and clean supply of water is key to the town's survival. With climate change looming, we can expect unpredictable problems. With a fast-growing population, we have to provide for huge additional increases in infrastructural expenditure." 

Are sewage spills into water resources being taken seriously?
The pervasive smell of sewage in Denneoord due to blocked sewage pipes overflowing into the Mitchell / Kat rivers has become a regular occurrence over the past three years.

Despairing residents have turned to the George Herald numerous times - most recently after the weekend of 7 and 8 July, when the situation became unbearable for some. Residents who have borne the brunt of these malodours feel that a permanent solution must be found and implemented.

Upon investigation, the George Herald on Monday 9 July located a steady stream of sewage overflowing from a manhole situated just above the banks of the Mitchell / Kat rivers (and just below the properties of 31 and 33 Madeliefie Street in Denneoord). A river water sample taken by Dawn Whitehead on the borders of her Madeliefie Street garden on 2 July shows an E-coli reading of 10 000 per 100, a clear indication that there is an abnormally high presence of human faeces in the Mitchell / Kat rivers in the area where the two converge.

No municipal water reports
Despite many requests over the past three years - the last e-mail to that effect was sent on 13 July 2018 - the George Municipality has failed to come up with their own test results of the Mitchell / Kat river confluence, or monitoring reports to refute the claims and complaints made.

Normal
In reaction to the latest complaint, municipal manager Trevor Botha said, "Blockages are normal occurrences and should not be seen as a system or network failure. As a municipality, we depend upon the general public to help report blockages and spillages. Spillage was reported to the municipality at 33 Madeliefie Street on 15 June, which was resolved two days later. A spillage was reported under 31 Madeliefie Street on 9 July. This blockage could not be resolved with our normal rodding irons and was given over to our jetting machine team. The jet machine, however, went in for repairs and was only available on Tuesday 10 July. Their first priority was to catch up with backlogged work and they attended to the spillage on 12 July."

Systematic upgrade
Tinus Nortjé, local Afriforum environmental committee member, said a systematic upgrade of the sewer system is long overdue. He has written to Pretoria and received a response from Chris Boshoff, Afriforum's head of environmental affairs, who said he is in favour of launching a project for addressing the pollution and the resulting proliferation of Kariba weed in the Garden Route Dam. Kariba weed thrives on the nutrients in human excrement. Boshoff feels strongly that pressure must be brought to bear on the Department of Environmental Affairs to escalate the process of addressing the issue.

Budget constraints
Botha said the municipality has a limited budget for the replacing of pitch fibre pipes and has to prioritise according to the master plan schedule. "Pitch fibre pipes occur all over the network and are not specific to the Madeliefie Street section. The master plan shows much older pipes in the system at other locations and other communities are also experiencing similar problems, making the Madeliefie issue one of many and the need to prioritise essential, as per a prescribed system such as the master plan programme, which is a computer generated software system."

Smell makes you think
A resident of Madeliefie Street who wants to remain anonymous remarked on the stench. ''Although we only get the occasional waft, it is enough to make us wonder why we are paying taxes and whether we should be responding similarly to what the George Municipality has been doing by saying 'sorry, our funding is limited'.''

Nortjé and Ken Gie, spokesperson for the Friends of the Kat River, agree that, if the master plan referred to by Botha is not linked to a budget or specific time frames, the document is worthless and merely a statement of intent that is not necessarily actionable.

Kariba Weed
The municipality is addressing the latest outbreaks of Kariba weed in the Garden Route Dam. Botha said, ''The first application of aquatic herbicide has been applied to Kariba weed and will be followed up with two more applications within the next few months".
The municipality also refers to the joint press release by George and Eden District Municipalities on river health in April this year.

An inspection on Monday 16 July showed a significant decrease in the presence of Kariba weed in the suburb Eden in the vicinity of the pedestrian bridge in Dikkop Street. It has been said that in the winter cold, the temperature in the river drops drastically and the Kariba weed's growth therefore diminishes.

Environmental Affairs stated that the George Municipality is yet to hand in a written indication of their master plan for combating the Kariba weed.

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