Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) plans to assist Rooiwal farmers with legal action against the City of Tshwane for the ongoing collapse of the Rooiwal wastewater treatment works and what it describes as the city’s blatant disregard of court orders.
FF Plus councillor Rina Marx said this follows the claim by Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya, during her State of the City address that there is no water crisis.
Moya didn’t mention water crisis in State of the City
“While the mayor denies any crisis, sewage pollution and fungal infections are destroying crops along the Apies River. Farmers are forced to use crops, grown at enormous input costs, as green fodder because they are unfit for human consumption,” Marx said.
The FF Plus mayoral candidate, Willie Spies, will also assist a local farmer, Theuns Vogel, in his lawsuit to hold the city accountable, she added.
Vogal has been at the forefront of the fight against the city, especially regarding the water tankers supply in the area.
“The new lawsuit revolves around the city’s failure to comply with court orders instructing it to urgently upgrade the Rooiwalworks, stop dumping untreated sewage into the Apies River, regularly report to the court on its progress with infrastructure projects and supply clean drinking water to the community while the water sources remain polluted,” she said.
Marx added that since the city switched from private water tanker contractors to its own tankers, the supply of drinking water has been deteriorating.
Spies said his firm has been part of the class action suit against the city for years.
Class action suit against city
“We have had court orders against the city on two occasions, the last time was in 2019 to repair Rooiwal, but nothing has happened yet.
“We are now in the process of holding those responsible for it accountable for contempt of court. I went there two weeks ago. I wasn’t there long when I got a headache and started feeling sick from the ammonia in the air.
“The air is polluted, the ground is polluted. There’s a big stream of sewage running into the river.”
Spies called it an environmental disaster that’s happening right under our noses, with the next tragedy waiting to happen.
A concerned resident and local farmer who did not want to be named said residents were fed up with Tshwane.
The resident, who lives about a kilometre from the Apies Rivier, said their borehole is so polluted that they can’t use it for their animals.
Borehole polluted
“The underground water is so polluted that it’s not even funny. In the past 12 years, we have been through three or four court cases.”
The resident said it was so bad that farmers can’t even plant mielies anymore, only feed. They cannot plant anything that’s meant for human consumption.
AfriForum environmental affairs manager Lambert de Klerk said the organisation assisted in bringing a case against the city to apply for the restoration work at Rooiwal, which was made a court order.
De Klerk said AfriForum also laid criminal charges against the city about the pollution by the Rooiwal works.
