Dirty river leads to criminal charges

Morne Duvenhage, centre, a technician from BN Kirk cc, a water, sewage and industrial effluent testing laboratory, collects samples from the polluted Mbango River in Port Shepstone. With him is DA councillor Ajith Rajaram, front. The man with the camera is unidentified.

Morne Duvenhage, centre, a technician from BN Kirk cc, a water, sewage and industrial effluent testing laboratory, collects samples from the polluted Mbango River in Port Shepstone. With him is DA councillor Ajith Rajaram, front. The man with the camera is unidentified.

Published Oct 2, 2014

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Durban - The issue of the alleged faecal contamination of the Mbango River in Port Shepstone has landed in the police charge office after the DA laid a criminal charge against municipal manager, Dhanpalan Naidoo, on Wednesday.

Food technologist, Dawn Bester, said she collected three samples from the river at different areas and the test results showed a high level of contamination.

“The level of contamination was shocking. It was 80 times more than the accepted level. The South African general standard for treated sewage spills into any river is 1 000 faecal coliform bacteria per 100ml.

“This river can only be contaminated by leaks from the sewage treatment plant up the stream,” Bester said.

Faecal coliform bacteria are found in the digestive tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans, according to Bester. She said to humans, the bacteria could cause diseases like ear infection, cholera, severe diarrhoea, vomiting and skin infections.

Naidoo said he was aware of the problem, but would not comment further. He requested written questions be sent and said he would respond on Thursday.

Doug Rawlins, DA councillor in Port Shepstone, said in recent months he had been inundated with complaints of a stench from the Mbango River.

He said on investigation by DA councillors it was discovered that fish were dying from below the municipality’s Mbango sewage treatment plant.

“The river flows past an old-age home about 200m below the sewage plant and most of the complaints came from there.

“Councillors then did an oversight visit at the plant and discovered that it was not operating at full capacity due to many mechanical failures. Semi-treated effluent was released into the river,” Rawlins said.

He said he and another councillor had gone to the plant recently to see if the situation had improved.

“On our arrival we met with a senior official from the municipality who outlined the challenges, citing broken equipment and lack of budget for repairs. The sludge pump had been broken for three months; a clarifier had been broken for over a year; three aerators had been broken for three months and the dewatering system was broken,” he said.

Rawlins said they discovered what seemed to be raw sewage being pumped into the river, and using their cellphones took video clips as proof. That is when the food technologist was requested to sample the water.

The Mbango River flows directly on to the Port Shepstone main beach, frequently used by swimmers, surfers and fishermen.

Rawlins said water contamination could affect the tourism industry and the status of the Blue Flag beaches.

Provincial police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, confirmed that a case had been opened against the municipal manager for allegedly failing to comply with a temporary restriction on the use of water.

He said no arrests had been made and police were investigating.

Daily News

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