Cape Town - The Milnerton Central Residents Association has raised concerns over what it says is the frequent discharge of large volumes of poorly treated effluent from Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Diep River over the past months.
The association said this was also the case at the Erica Road stormwater outlet where the City continued to discharge significant volumes of highly polluted water into the lagoon.
It said this, together with recent pump station failures in Milnerton Ridge, has led to poor quality river water and recent reports of foul smells with a massive detrimental impact on the ecosystem of the river.
On Wednesday, approximately 500 small dead fish were seen at the mouth of the Milnerton Lagoon.
The association said more than two years after the Potsdam WWTW pre-directive was issued there has been no relief in sight given the ecological damage being caused in a nature reserve as well as a public health risk.
Milnerton Central Residents Association environmental head Caroline Marx said in December 2019 there was a fish die-off due to high pollution levels in the lagoon and as the recent pollution levels had been high again, they suspect this was again the cause.
“The new mayor and his team show the political will but have inherited years of unresolved problems. The City manager is ultimately responsible for running a well-functioning city and he and his team, as the responsible professionals, need to be held accountable for resolving the problems.
“It is illegal for anyone to discharge untreated sewage into a river and treated effluent needs to be within safety limits, the concern is that the City results and independent water tests done by Outa show that this is not happening,” she said.
The City's Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said: “I am meeting with all affected ward councillors this week to update them on the status of the upgrades at Potsdam WWTW and to share the latest progress on work towards the directives.
“I will then engage with the Milnerton Central Ratepayers Association and community face-to-face to also share the information.”